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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The standard of refereeing has been a talking point in this World Cup since before the tournament even started. Hardly a surprise; referee bashing should be a sport in and of itself. But while there have definitely been some issues, there have been some excellent performances, as well. I’ve watched almost every match, so I decided to go back through my
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It was a rough day for the American, but a typically smooth one by the Brazilian, Sandro Ricci (above). Mark Geiger, USA: France v. Nigeria Geiger is the first referee from the US to referee at this stage in the World Cup, which is really impressive. However, the American media’s breathless prognostications about how he’d be in the final were
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As you will read in my end of day report, I thought United States referee Mark Geiger was very, very inconsistent and poor in this match. But let’s focus on arguably the biggest talking point- whether or not France should have been reduced to ten men after this tackle by Blaise Matuidi: Before you vote, check out the three similar red cards
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Mark Geiger of USA (above) has had a really good tournament, and he’s been rewarded with a knockout stage game: France v. Nigeria. It’s nice to see. Sandro Ricci, whom I consider to be one of the top referees in this tournament, is in action as well, with Germany v. Algeria. Referee: Mark W Geiger (USA) Assistant Referee 1: Mark Sean Hurd
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Marco Rodriguez of Mexico and his love of hair product (see above) will open the proceedings on Tuesday with Italy v. Urugay. Mark Geiger of the US is his fourth official. Djamel Haimoudi of Algeria has been invited back for Costa Rica v. England, who have only their pride to play for now. Portugal’s generally excellent (and quite dreamy) Pedro Proenca has
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We have our first repeat referee of the tournament, and it’s a bit of a delightful surprise: Mark Geiger of USA. As I mentioned earlier, Geiger really impressed in his inaugural performance between Colombia and Greece (above) and I expected to see him again. But not quite so soon, and in quite so big of a game. Spain v. Chile
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Luckily, the referees appear to have moved past their nervy start and the four referees today performed admirably. There was one big penalty call and a red card (both from Felix Brych in Uruguay v. Costa Rica) but neither could really be disputed. Mark Geiger (USA), Colombia v. Greece – Geiger did really, really well. Very solid performance, and he looked very
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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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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 