The final legs of the Champions League playoffs will be held this Tuesday and Wednesday, and the roster of referees – combined with the first legs – read like a who’s who of Europe’s best. On Tuesday, Italy’s number two, Gianluca Rocchi, is in St. Petersburg, and Germany’s Wolfgang Stark – a no-nonsense referee if ever there was one – will
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Pedro Proenca (Portugal), Netherlands v. Mexico As always when the Dutch play, this match threatened to descend into violence early. Proenca (above) is a good referee for that sort of thing. He doesn’t have the imposing visage of a Howard Webb or Bjorn Kuipers, nor does he have the temper of a Nicola Rizzoli. He’s just a very calm referee and
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I watch Arjen Robben play the way I watch Luis Suarez, always half-cringing. They’re both so difficult to watch the way they throw themselves about, straining to get a foul or a penalty instead of – you know – playing the game. They’re both much too talented to have to act that way. I know it’s their game and it
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The second day of knockout stage action is a good one if you are a female fan of the referees. Two lookers up: Pedro Proenca of Portugal and Ben Williams of Australia. I must say, I’m pleasantly surprised to see Williams. I thought he did really well in his last outing, with great fitness and foul detection and a good red
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I didn’t watch all the games today, because I took some time to off go into the city and watch a game with my Colombian buddy. I’ll review the referees I watched. Feel free to add your comments and thoughts on the other referees below! Marco Rodriguez (Mexico), Italy v. Uruguay These teams required a strong referee, which is just what
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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 had another exciting day, with 2010 champions Spain exiting the tournament and Alex Song treating us to the stupidest behavior of the tournament so far… Djamel Haimoudi (ALG), Netherlands v Australia Haimoudi’s inability to hide his sheer, unbridled joy at walking out onto the pitch was truly charming. It’s a good reminder that these are human beings and it’s
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The showpiece today was Brazil v. Mexico and what a showpiece it was, thanks in part to the refereeing crew. But we start with the Mexican referees… Marco Rodriguez (Mexico), Belgium v. Algeria First of all, this guy loves his hair product, doesn’t he? Rodriguez tended to let a lot of potential fouls go, but it was equal for both teams,
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In an apparent attempt to humanize the World Cup referees, FIFA has posted cutesy little bios of each of them on the World Cup 2014 website. It’s kind of a form that you fill out with your basic stats: how tall you wish you were are, your language, how many years you’ve been doing this, etc. The bios are accompanied by the
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Pedro Proenca of Portugal will referee the Champions League final game between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid on Tuesday, April 29. Proenca is the most boring international referee around. And that’s good. You don’t get very far with a “pedro proenca controversy” google search because there’s just not much. He is a very consistent, deliberate referee who is very calm
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