PLAY THE ADVANTAGE

Yay! Switzerland get Bjorn Kuipers!!

When my Suisse play France on Friday, we’ll have the very best in the middle. Kuipers (above), a supermarket owner from the Netherlands, put on a masterclass in his inaugural game: England v. Italy. He’s a “by the book” kind of referee, but we’re a “by the book” kind of team, so that should work out well. After the disappointment of Ravshan Irmatov, I’m right stoked about Kuipers.

We even got a bit of eye candy on the side in the form of fourth official Svein Oddvar Moen. Thanks, FIFA!

There are other teams playing as well, I think…

The Chileans, who performed admirably their first time out, take Italy v. Costa Rica (which looks to be a better game than it seems on paper.)

We see the Aussie, Benjamin Williams, for the first time for Honduras v. Ecuador. And Japan’s Yuichi Nishimura emerges for the first time since his disastrous opener. He’s Williams’ fourth official.

Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI)
Assistant: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Assistant: Sergio Roman (CHI)
Fourth Official: Alioum (CMR)

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant: Sander Van Roekel (NED)
Assistant: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Fourth Official: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)

Referee: Ben Williams (AUS)
Assistant: Matthew Cream (AUS)
Assistant: Hakan Anaz (AUS)
Fourth Official: Yuichi Nishimura (JPN)