He was being kind. Velasco Carballo’s role in the ugliness cannot be minimized. A Spaniard, he is known as a high-level official but it seemed clear that he was determined to avoid using cards to control the players. That decision backfired, particularly as it related to Fernandinho; instead of giving the players a comfort level to play more freely early on, his leniency served as an elastic band on the game, encouraging the players, especially the Brazilians, to try to see just how much contact they could get away with on Rodriguez without being punished.