PSG v Inter Miami, huh? Sampaio, I suppose. I was reflexively going to say Barton but then realized neutrality works against him. I could definitely see Oliver on the all-Brazilian affair. Going to be some fun knockout assignments.
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s games, you think Letexier has ever reffed in 97 degree heat before? That’s 36 Celsius for the Europeans, and that’s what they’re all going to be dealing with at bright 3pm in Charlotte tomorrow. What a “present” he gets for waiting a week and a half for his debut
He had that mid-day Olympic playoff back in May 2024. But if the internet isn't steering me wrong, it only topped out at about 80F that day. I'd say it's unlikely in his professional career. But France has had some brutal heat waves so who knows about the earlier stages. Starting to game out the other KO games (and jinx the possibilities, I'm sure)... if Boca pulls it off, they get Flamengo. And Chelsea v Bayern is likely. The Group E/F interactions could also be Brazil v Argentina and all-UEFA. Group G/H might have one less interesting match, but there will be a big Real Madrid v UEFA one. I wonder to what extent FIFA will use non-UEFA referees on the all-UEFA ties. I hope they do in some cases. Would be fun to see how Tello and Barton handle things. And, it goes without saying that the UEFA guys on the South American derbies would be quite fun.
How about Nyberg in Nashville at 2pm? And Auckland City. Woof. It's like the FIFA version of Virginia vs. Vermont at Regionals (your states will vary by region).
And Miami still has/had an MLS league game still scheduled for this Saturday gives it away that they weren't expected to advance out of the group phase. Seattle is scheduled to play Saturday night and LAFC on Sunday. Both games are home games in MLS. I assume that means neither was expected to advance also
Flamengo v. Boca would be perfect for Faghani, but he had Boca in the group phase. Taylor maybe? Marciniak or Kovacs could also fit. There will be UEFA v. UEFA matches later on in the tournament for those 3.
Most recent weather report is that it will be 98 at kickoff. I understand they want the audience in Europe to be able to watch, but I won't wait until after kickoff and after someone is subbed out for heat exhaustion to post that this is ridiculous.
Flamengo v Boca could be so many different possibilities. I think you can eliminate people working the 25th (and definitely the 26th). So on the UEFA side, I believe it's Marciniak/Letexier/Taylor/Vincic who would be the candidates (won't be Kovacs or Eskas and I don't think Nyberg, either). Of those, who do you go with? Vincic just proved he can do it. Is getting that game a reward or an additional test you want to avoid? Letexier would be very, very interesting; I'd like to see that, honestly. Taylor makes a lot of sense but it seems like Oliver will work a R16 so not sure you give both England referees to all-South American matches. Marciniak a possible default option but given the timing of his first game, maybe he was always going to be held for a QF. Of course, it could just be someone else outside of UEFA. Barton would handle that in a very distinct way. As would Ramos. But a different type of distinct.
I think you’re overreading that as far as “expected.” I would imagine it was more of a “wait and see” instead of messing with schedule in advance, I would presume there was a plan in place known by the affected teams in the event they went through.
Juventus : Manchester City - TURPIN (FRA) Wydad : Al Ain - FISCHER (CAN) Al Hilal : Pachuca - MAKKELIE (NED) Red Bull : Real Madrid - BEIDA (MTN) Turpin, as expected. That is not a good sign for Fischer, unfortunately. Unless he was always going to get a balance of games (one big, one not), it's never good to be assigne to two eliminated teams. Makkelie has a potentially hot one. Beida assignment makes sense. Kovacs is 4th for Turpin, for what that's worth. Also, Villarreal is not Penso's VAR.
Supposed to hit 102 here in Raleigh. I know MassRef mentioned the heat waves of France but the humidity is another level driven by the much warmer Atlantic/Gulf Stream vs what you get on the colder (Eastern) side of the ocean.
Revisiting this. The ten referees only getting one match: Sy Barton Benitez Tello Eskas Kovacs Marciniak Letexier Oliver Vincic I would say you can safely assume Sy, Benitez, Eskas and Kovacs are done. And I would wager that the first three of those were always planned as one-and-done barring a combination of spectacular performances and others faltering. Figuring out who got a second game because of Kovacs faltering is hard; I guess it could be Nyberg but it also might be Falahi (EDIT: actually it probably definitely was Falahi otherwise all three AFC referees would have got 2 matches and that would stick out). I think it's pretty safe to say that the other six will work again (unless Letexier has a nightmare today). Probably just a question of whether or not Marciniak and Letexier go straight to QFs or not.
I remember MassRef saying during the Brazil-Croatia World Cup match that he’d love to see Oliver take charge of a Copa America match. I’d agree, so I’d really like to see him on an all-CONMEBOL match (basically a Libertadores fixture) if and when it happens. It would be fascinating.
Ramos did Boca in Rd1. Although I think Barton would be great in this matchup. He gave a red card to Chelsea in the Flamengo v Chelsea matchup in Rd2. They're probably out. Taylor, being English, is probably out for the Argentinian team since FIFA seems to choose to avoid English officials on Argentina games since the 80s (Falklands). I think Marciniak or Letexier would be the choices. Or Ghorbal (but not really). Either way, Boca winning only 1-0 at halftime doesn't bode well for them advancing out of the group anyway.
Entirety of central Tennesse and the one storm shows up right near the stadium. Sums up the eastern US during summer.
The fact that Benfica is winning combined with the heat in both locations might prevent Boca from being too motivated to run up the score. And now the weather suspension really will provide clarity. Boca will know whether or not they have any hope when they retake the field. Two different games are possible when the t-storms pass.
On the officiating itself, with Letexier... 56' was a dodgy tackle from Di Maria in the attacking third. I think it's the kind of tackle that UEFA referees get away with not booking when they are in complete control but need to be handled a much different way in other settings. 66' penalty shout was waved away and then Letexier did a great job telling off Otamendi for trying to bait/confront Kane for diving. Otamendi is already on a yellow, too. Top-level stuff from Letexier and not a gear that I've always seen from him (I think of "big KMI accuracy" before I think of "excellent player management" with him, so interesting to see him developing the latter now--as much as a reigning EURO final referee "develops," of course).
Orange kit for the Chelsea goalkeeper, against the red and yellow of Esperance, is an... interesting choice.
Looks like wrong offside by AR1 Del Yesso at 31’. Game hasn’t been too difficult for Falcon Perez, but he’s had to do a lot of running. 34’ management of off ball holding and then some borderline play-ons. 40’ Strange scene where an EST player hurts himself stepping on the ball, but I think the ref blew for an ankle tap just before. 44’ dispute over who should get the drop ball after ref is hit with the ball. Ref may have been wrong here. +47’ possible SPA YC against EST not given. Not mandatory imo.
49’ (approximately) penalty appeal for CHE, not given but I think it might be more penalty than not. No big appeals from CHE though.