Después de haber pitado el penalti, la árbitra habló con la portera.

Haber pitado is the perfect infinitive. It emphasizes that the whistling happened before the next action.

• Después de pitar el penalti = after blowing/calling the penalty
• Después de haber pitado el penalti = after having blown/called the penalty

In many cases, both are possible. The version with haber + past participle sounds a bit more explicit about the action being completed first.

It is the perfect infinitive:

• haber = infinitive of the auxiliary verb
• pitado = past participle of pitar

So the pattern is:

• haber + past participle

Examples:

• después de haber comido = after having eaten
• sin haber visto = without having seen
• por haber llegado tarde = for having arrived late

After después de, Spanish often uses an infinitive when the subject is the same or when no new subject needs to be introduced.

So:

• Después de haber pitado el penalti, la árbitra habló...

This is very natural in Spanish.

If you want a full clause with a conjugated verb, you can also say:

• Después de que pitó el penalti, la árbitra habló con la portera.

Both are correct, though the structure is slightly different.

Because with haber, the past participle does not agree with the noun.

In Spanish compound forms, haber + past participle stays unchanged:

• he visto
• ha comido
• haber pitado

So even though penalti is masculine singular, pitado would stay the same anyway. This is different from structures with ser or some adjective-like uses of participles, where agreement can happen.

Yes, literally pitar can mean to whistle or to blow the whistle, but in football it often means to call, to award, or to give a decision.

So pitar el penalti means something like:

• to award a penalty
• to call a penalty

It is a very common football verb in Spanish.

Yes. In Spain, penalti is the normal everyday football word for penalty.

A few useful notes:

• It comes from English penalty
• In Spain it is commonly written penalti
• You may also see penalty sometimes, but penalti is very standard in Spanish spelling

So pitar el penalti is a very natural football expression in Spain.

Because the sentence is referring to a female referee, so Spanish uses the feminine form:

• el árbitro = the male referee
• la árbitra = the female referee

Spanish often marks professions and roles for gender when referring to a specific person.

Good question. Spanish uses el instead of la only with some feminine singular nouns that begin with a stressed a- or ha- sound, such as:

• el agua
• el águila
• el hambre

But árbitra does not have that pattern. Even though it begins with á, the normal article is:

• la árbitra

So:

• la árbitra
• la árbitra española
• las árbitras

Yes, portera can mean different things depending on context.

Common meanings include:

• female goalkeeper
• female doorkeeper / building caretaker

Here, because the sentence is about a referee and a penalty, la portera clearly means the goalkeeper.

This is a good example of how sports context helps you choose the right meaning.

Habló is the preterite because it describes a completed action in the past:

• the referee called the penalty
• then she spoke to the goalkeeper

This is a clear sequence of finished events, so the preterite is the natural choice.

If the sentence were describing background, repeated action, or an ongoing past situation, another tense might be used, but here the preterite fits best.

Yes, absolutely.

You can say:

• Después de haber pitado el penalti, la árbitra habló con la portera.
• Después de que pitó el penalti, la árbitra habló con la portera.

Both are correct.

Very roughly:

• después de haber pitado = slightly more compact, more tied to the infinitive structure
• después de que pitó = full clause with a conjugated verb

Both are natural, though the first may sound a bit more formal or more explicitly sequential.

Because the sentence begins with a time expression and subordinate structure:

• Después de haber pitado el penalti, ...

Spanish often uses a comma after an introductory phrase like this, especially when it is a bit long. It helps separate the background action from the main clause:

• Después de haber pitado el penalti, la árbitra habló con la portera.

You may sometimes see short introductory phrases without commas, but here the comma is very natural and helpful.

Because la portera comes after the preposition con, not as a direct object.

• habló con la portera = she spoke with the goalkeeper

The so-called personal a is used mainly with direct objects referring to people:

• Vio a la portera. = She saw the goalkeeper.

But with con, you just say:

• con la portera

The given order is very natural, but Spanish is flexible.

Original:

• Después de haber pitado el penalti, la árbitra habló con la portera.

You could also say:

• La árbitra habló con la portera después de haber pitado el penalti.

Both mean the same basic thing. The original puts the time relationship first, which gives it a slightly more narrative feel.