That's a bit rich i think. Not that i know him, but isn't that a bit risky to assign a ref coming from a nation we've just eliminated ? With all the bad refering so far, i think FIFA is wrong todo this. I read somewhere that they wanted a final between Brazil and Germany. That's a good way to pave the way.
i'm not worried. even if the refereeing hasn't been tippytop, partiality just isn't a problem. and if anything, it would work in our favor as the ref tries to prove his impartiality. of course it is another bonehead decision by FIFA, but who's counting?
referees couldn't care less about patriotism; all they care is their career. If he calls a good game, he might be selected for a semifinal or the final, if he stinks up he's gone. What do you think he'll (try to) do?
Of note, this is the same ref who gave Italy the penalty against Australia. So if you're gonna trip up Ronaldo at the end, do it outside the box.
It's the same ? How can a ref who has made two big mistakes with a red given to Materrazi and a penalty as a "sorry for that" gift to the italians, bepart of this game ?
Possible, but that's actually why it's better to have a totally neutral referee for the sake of the game. If he favours us, we won't hear the end of it before a long time. Wait... Nevermind !
I hope this guy doesn't screw up the game because he has been the worst ref in my opinion and should ahve been sent home along with poll and ivanov.
It seems like none of you remember the Italy and S.Korea match from the 2002 World Cup.That match was very controversial with a referee from Ecuador calling the match.In that World Cup, Italy eliminated Ecuador from group play.During the Italy and S.Korea match the Ecuadorian referee called bad calls against the Italians.Everyone thought it was a payback for Italy beating Ecuador in group play.I hope this Spanish referee does not do that to us against Brazil.
Maybe the red was harsh, but Materazzi did make a late tackle. As for the penalty, it was a good call, enough said. So 1/2 a mistake, hey we could do worse.
Materazzi shouldn't have been sent off and the ref realized he shouldn't have done that too, so he gave the late penalty to make it up for the Italians. Late tackle=red card makes no f***ing sense.
i didn't see it. both feet? then red is the tarif annoncé. i also wonder how they could run so short of good refs. but when you need to take half the total from sandlot leagues, you don't start out with a big pool of quality officials.
The famous "Wembley goal" of 1966 final has been accepted by a Russian referee, knowing that Germany had actually elimintated the USSR earlier in the tournament. But anyway, I'm not sure it's such a good move to focus so much on the referee. Seriously, Brazil has insanely talented players and we should focus on them before everything.
it's a really bad choice... In one hand, if the ref make error in favor of brasil, french people will be saying that the ref was not partial (because the elimination of spain)... In other hand if the ref make error in favor of france, barsilian will be saying it's because it was an european ref...
