Mark Clattenburg takes another big step up the ladder on August 12, when he referees the UEFA Super Cup. He’ll be in the middle when the winners of the 2013 Champions League, Real Madrid, take on the winners of the Europa League, Sevilla, in Cardiff, Wales. His preferred team, Simon Beck and Stuart Burt, will be his assistants, and Darren England
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Well, there’s been all of diddly going on since the World Cup in the referee news world (magical world that it is), and that’s been fine by me. 60-odd games in a row – most accompanied by margaritas – and I needed the break. But now that I’ve had a chance to stretch my legs, I’m starting to miss my
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Americans are getting more and more into football (“soccer”) and were pretty supportive of the USMNT, who improbably emerged from the Group of Death to make it to the Round of 16. But what many of them didn’t realize was that the real American hero in this World Cup wasn’t Tim Howard or Julian Green. He was a 39 year old
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You know what? I thought Nicola Rizzoli was great. He took control of this match right from the start and never relinquished it. He was fair, communicated well and gave an air of confidence that you just can’t fake. He owes a lot of his success – in this game in particular – to his outstanding ARs, Renato Faverani and
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Yes. He did see himself on the big screen and then fix his hair. … What? The guy’s gotta look good…
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To get us all warmed up for Nicola Rizzoli’s performance as the World Cup Final referee, I present to you proof positive that there are people out there more obsessed with referees than me. You don’t even have to speak Italian to appreciate the sheer awesome of this: Yes, bitches, that’s a tribute song!! Not some silly video of still photos
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One of my favorite things about Djamel Haimoudi is that he always just looks so darn happy to be there. I mean I guess they all are, but Haimoudi just can’t hide his joy. It’s adorbs. But, to quote myself after his first match, because of that: “I wish he’d done better.” Or to quote my friend Mark: “Fastest referee
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The referee for the final match of the 2014 World Cup is Nicola Rizzoli of Italy. He will be assisted by his longtime team, Renato Faverani and Andrea Stefani, both also of Italy. Carlos Vera of Ecuador will be the fourth official, which I must say is a big appointment for him. I, personally, could not be more thrilled or less surprised.
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Djamel Haimoudi of Algeria has been appointed as the referee for the third place playoff between Brazil and Netherlands, to take place on Saturday. He will be assisted by Redouane Achik and Abdelhak Etchiali. Fourth official will be Yuichi Nishimura of Japan. I feel like this is a little bit of a surprise, though he did fairly well in the games I
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Overall, Cuneyt Cakir had a good game, in the sense that he really didn’t affect the outcome. The match never felt out of control. He started off keeping control but not calling every little thing, so setting a good tone. His communication with the players was good. The call at 13 minutes to give Argentina a free kick right outside the
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 