Here are the referees in Serie A for this weekend, February 22-24. Chievo and Catania will be a fairly big game, considering that the two teams are fighting to avoid relegation. Daniele Orsato, one of Italy’s top-rated refs, will handle that one. League leaders Juventus will take on mid-table Torino, refereed by top Italian ref Nicola Rizzoli (above) and his
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I should do a serious post about how Manuel Pelligrini’s unprecedented attack on Jonas Eriksson can’t go unpunished. (And by serious, I mean one that sadly does not include the word asshattery.) I should examine the virtual bloodbath of red cards in just two days’ worth of Champions League matches. I should talk about what should happen to Arsenal’s Goalkeeper
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Well, well. It seems that the four upcoming Champions League matches this week (February 18 and 19) are a showcase for the Gods of Refereeing. You can’t get much better than this week’s choices. On Tuesday, there’s Jonas Eriksson of Sweden and Viktor Kassai of Hungary, both consistently excellent referees. On Wednesday, you have: Yes, that’s right, Mr. Smooth is
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Big note is that Nicola Rizzoli is nowhere amongst the appointments, meaning he is almost certainly refereeing one of this week’s upcoming Last 16 Champions League matches, held Tuesday and Wednesday, February 18 and 19. His two assistant referees, Stefani and Faverani, are listed this weekend, but only as fourth officials. The referees for the Champions League matches are not announced until two
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The match of the week is obviously the Lazio v. Roma derby. The third best referee in Italy will be in the middle: Daniele Orsato (above). Personally, I like Orsato. Good man manager, solid positioning, all around nice guy. (I actually don’t know that; he could be completely insufferable, for all I know.) I mean, he’s no Nicola Rizzoli, but then,
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Nicola Rizzoli has been named Italy’s top referee for the 858th year in a row. Okay, I exaggerate. It’s just 857. In all seriousness, this is at least the third year in a row that Rizzoli has walked onto the stage at Italy’s Gran Gala and accepted the trophy. And I think he’s worn the same suit every year. (For
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The big game this week is undoubtedly Juventus v. Inter on Sunday. Gianluca Rocchi, Italy’s second highest rated ref behind Nicola Rizzoli, will take the helm for that one. Speaking of Rizzoli (above), the band’s back together for Atalanta v. Napoli, with Renato Faverani and Andrea Stefani – his favored assistants and World Cup team – joining him on Sunday.
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Here are the referee appointments for January 18 and 19 in Serie A. Nothing terribly exciting. Of the Elite referees, Daniele Orsato takes Chievo-Parma, and Gianluca Rocchi (above) will oversee Udinese-Lazio. Fresh off his not-at-all surprising appointment to the World Cup, Nicola Rizzoli will manage Genoa-Inter. One slightly interesting item, Rizzoli has a new assistant referee team this week. World
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Now that we know who’s going to the World Cup, here are my initial thoughts on the choices. I’m focusing right now on the Europeans, since I know them best. Felix Brych, Germany Brych has been on the ascendancy in Germany for quite some time. Wolfgang Stark has been the number one in Germany until now, but over the past
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In case you still don’t believe that referees are celebrities in Italy, here’s a 12-photo spread of Nicola Rizzoli getting papped while skiing in Courmayeur. These pictures were taken just a few days before the big Juventus-Roma match on January 5, but he looks as cool as usual. I particularly love the casually opened jacket and stylin’ red boots. If
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