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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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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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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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 