How awesome is this?! My imaginary boyfriend, Lee Probert, has been given the FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Hull City at Wembley on May 17. Look how sweet he is: “The first person I thought about was my dad who I lost six years ago. He was always there to support me throughout my career and it’s payback for
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England’s Top Dog, Howard Webb will referee the first leg of the Real Madrid v. Bayern Munich semifinal on Wednesday, April 23. Regular readers know that I think Webb, despite his experience and the fact that he already has his ticket to Brazil, isn’t England’s best referee anymore. That honour now goes to Mark Clattenburg, while Webb has visibly struggled
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The Atletico Madrid v. Chelsea Champions League semifinal will be officiated by The Big Swede: Jonas Eriksson. Eriksson has been very active in European action this season. In addition to some Europa league matches (including Tottenham’s), he refereed Manchester City v. Barcelona in the Group of 16 and Bayern Munich v. Manchester United in the quarterfinals. He’s performed pretty well in
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Poor Mike Dean. What a day he had at Stamford Bridge. First there was Ramires punching Seb Larsson in the face (which Dean actually missed, but has no doubt seen by now) and then this. Cesar Azpilicueta did his best, but got outfoxed by Jozy Altidore in the box. Dean correctly called the penalty, which Liverpool loanee Fabio Borini stepped
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Ramires is a dirty player. I get that. He’s got a temper on him, as well. (See: Mark Clattenburg.) I sort of get that, too. But you can not hit a player in the face. Not even Sebastian Larsson, whom I realize is kind of a c—. You just can’t. There’s no reason in the world you can give me to excuse why
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Here are the referees for this upcoming week in MLS. Top referee Hilario Grajeda (above) is in Columbus, while Chicago Fire v. New England Revolution wins the Best Referee Name of the Week award, with both Sorin Stoica and Kermit Quisenberry on board. Notice who’s missing? Mark Geiger, the United States representative at the World Cup. It’s been a few weeks since he’s
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The Serie A title is very nearly in Juventus’ pocket. But there’s still plenty to play for, particularly between second place Roma and fourth place Fiorentina. (And you have to wonder what Fiorentina could have done this year without the massive injuries – including to Giuseppe Rossi, who lost his lead on league goals weeks after he was injured.) Paolo Mazzoleni
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There’s been a bit of a tempest in a teapot – mostly on Twitter – claiming that retired Italian refereeing legend Pierluigi Collina had something disparaging to say about Neymar. They tend to go something like this*: TAKED NOTE NEYMAR ! PIERLUIGI COLLINA DAH WARNING SAMA LU pic.twitter.com/qGTBa4GHRz — TweetChelseafc (@TweetChe_47680) April 13, 2014 Every tweet I see with this quote
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We’re rapidly running out of daylight on the season, and the title is still undecided. This puts even more pressure on the referees than they usually face. Any mistake could impact who wins the title. Liverpool play at Norwich on Sunday, with Andre Marriner (above) in the middle. Poor Andre has not had the … steadiest of seasons. Let’s hope
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Let me just say, Nicola Rizzoli is the Honey Badger of Serie A refereeing. And if you’re not American and don’t know what that means, watch the video at the bottom of this post. (And you’re welcome for introducing you to the very best of American culture.) You’re not even playing? Rizzoli don’t care. Rizzoli doesn’t give a shit. Rizzoli takes
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 