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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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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Few people expected this game to end the way it did: with a 7-1 Brazil defeat. In fact, what most people expected – a brutal, ugly display and possibly retaliation for Neymar’s injury – didn’t happen at all and much of the credit for that can be given to Rodriguez. He could have called an early foul for Brazil right
Read moreThe second semifinal of the World Cup will be officiated by Cuneyt Cakir of Turkey. This isn’t a huge surprise, for me, at least. Cakir’s well-respected by FIFA and he does have quite a bit of experience. He’s done pretty well in this tournament. Here’s what he’s been in: Brazil v. Mexico Algeria v. Russia Fourth official will be Jonas
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It is now official. Here are the remaining refereeing teams for the 2014 World Cup. The next semifinal, third place playoff and final referee will come from this list. Ravshan Irmatov (UZB) Yuichi Nishimura (JPN) Djamel Haimoudi (ALG) Noumandiez Doue (CIV) Marco Rodriguez (MEX) Mark Geiger (USA) Enrique Osses (CHI) Carlos Vera (ECU) Sandro Ricci (BRA) Cuneyt Cakir (TUR) Jonas
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It’s definitely silly season in World Cup refereeing terms, with only three games left to go. Here are some of the totally unsubstantiated things I’m hearing. Bjorn Kuipers is Out – Dutch media are reporting that Kuipers has been given his walking papers, due to the success of the Dutch side. This is really sad for me, because it really does mean
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Marco Rodriguez of Mexico – known as “chiquidracula” partly for his love of hair product – will take the first semifinal, between Brazil and Germany. Rodriguez has had a good tournament, and what’s more, he’s proven that he can handle making tough calls. It was, after all, Rodriguez who sent off Italy’s Claudio Marchisio for a studs up challenge. This
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The refereeing performances on this second day of the quarterfinals were sure better than the first. Nicola Rizzoli (Italy), Argentina v. Belgium This is the second time Rizzoli (above) has had to step into the breach after a particularly rough outing for another referee. He followed Yuichi Nishimura’s opening day performance, and today he followed arguably one of the worst
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Note: My somewhat lame only “bright side” to Carlos Velasco’s performance in Brazil v. Colombia was that no one had a broken leg. Unfortunately, it now appears that Neymar has a broken vertebrae and will miss the rest of the World Cup. That challenge – which went unpunished – was the direct result of very poor refereeing and lack of control
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 