So Clattenburg out of contention for Final unless Collina is willing to wait for semis to finish and wait for Wales to lose to Portugal.
I think Clattenburg gets the non-Wales semi. Big game, likely. And ensures he isn't in conflict. Eriksson for Wales-Portugal. Then either Rizzoli, Kassai or Kuipers for the final. If Italy loses, it is easy. If they don't, whoever does better this weekend has the inside track. Or... Eriksson is simply being held for the Final. That would be unprecedented. Which, of course, would fit in with what Collina has done recently.
So Rizzoli on the Final? Clattenburg on Germany/France? Eriksson on Wales/Portugal? Mazic as 4th on the Final?
Or swap Rizzoli and Eriksson. Your option and that option are the two most logical. But recent history does show there could be other avenues that Collina could pursue. I think the only two people who have to work again are Eriksson and Clattenburg. The third referee is probably Rizzoli, but I wouldn't set it in stone. Also don't think Mazic has to be on the final. But also no reason he wouldn't be. He seemed to help Brych with a caution so might get rewarded for that.
With the way Collina has assigned the Champions League it wouldn't shock me if Eriksson got the Final, but it would go against every "assigning practice/tradition" for about the past 10 years at Euros and World Cups. Usually you do at least one knockout game and then the Final. Here, Eriksson would get the Final without doing a knockout game. If Eriksson gets the Final, that means Collina either penciled him in before the tournament or decided that he was gonna get it after the group stages. Which I just find odd considering he gave Clattenburg the CL Final after a CL semi and Cakir did two CL semifinals. It's not that far back, but since Euro 2008, the Final referee has done at least one knockout match. Rosetti did a quarterfinal and then the Final. Proenca did a quarterfinal and then Final. That was with a smaller format and less games. Euro 2004 and Euro 2000 were different as the Merk and Frisk only did group stage matches, but that kind of made sense as they wanted to spread the games out. Only 7 knockout matches, so it kind of wouldn't be fair to have one guy do two out of the 7. Then again, Rosetti and Proenca did do two out of the 7. Here there are 15 knockout matches and I would find it weird for Eriksson to not get at least one game prior to the Final.
Don't disagree. Just saying it's possible and the only other logical option if you assume Eriksson has to work and Clattenburg will work again (which seems to be the two assumptions that everyone is making). Also possible is Clattenburg getting two games if Wales loses and he performs in the semis. That would be just like the UCL this year, as you referenced. In that case, we only have two referees left. The final still could simply be open though. If it's Eriksson and Clattenburg for the semis, the final might just go to whomever ends up with the best overall scores among Kuipers, Rizzoli, Kassai, Mazic and Skomina. I think it's fair to cross Skomina off the list at this point. But we haven't seen Kuipers again and I honestly couldn't tell you who scored best among the other three right now. I don't think it's safe to presume that Collina and UEFA see Rizzoli and his team as head and shoulders above the rest.
EDIT: This announcement which is from the UEFA website appears to be wrong and that Eriksson is the Referee for this match. Not sure how you could screw up an announcement like this. 6 July: Portugal v Wales Referee: Felix Brych (GER) Brych oversaw the 2014 UEFA Europa League final between Sevilla and Benfica. Among his six UEFA Champions League assignments this term were Barcelona-Atlético Madrid, Chelsea-Paris and Juventus-Manchester City. Assistant referees: Mark Borsch (GER) , Stefan Lupp (GER) Additional assistant referees: Bastian Dankert (GER) , Marco Fritz (GER) Fourth official: Milorad Mažić (SRB) Reserve official: Milovan Ristić (SRB) http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/news/newsid=2372154.html
What is your source? I have the following but don't see UEFA confirmation on these or yours. Eriksson for Wales-Portugal. Marciniak as 4O. Rizzoli for France-Germany. Skomina as 4O.
Quite interesting. A few reporters and other prominent referee websites announced Eriksson for this and Rizzoli for the other match within the last twenty minutes. Wonder how that bad information got out. Brych getting another match surprises me for a number of reasons. But all along we've said to expect the unexpected.
So the matchcentre section on the UEFA site shows Eriksson. Someone has made a mistake because at this very moment the UEFA site shows both Brych and Eriksson reffing this match. Weird for such confusion to be so (relatively) public.
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/matches/round=2000450/match=2017905/match-info/index.html Check that out. Can't upload a screenshot now but it says Eriksson with Marciniak.
Total confusion! Someone screwed up. From the matchcentre: 06 July Portugal-Wales Semi Final Referee Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Assistant referee Mathias Klasenius (SWE) Daniel Wärnmark (SWE) Additional assistant referee Stefan Johannesson (SWE) Markus Strömbergsson (SWE) Fourth official Szymon Marciniak (POL) http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/matches/round=2000450/match=2017905/match-info/index.html
Also the other match has Rizzoli with Skomina, which would be fascinating if only for the implications on the Final. Of course, we now seem to have two different sources officially from UEFA. So that's a problem.
On further examination I have to Believe that Eriksson is the correct Referee. The PDF match press kit has him as the referee. http://www.uefa.com/printoutfiles/competitions/uefaeuro/2016/e/e_2017905_pk.pdf
If it is Eriksson and Rizzoli, what does that mean for the Final? A - Clattenburg if Wales loses. B - Clattenburg if Wales wins because Collina doesn't care one bit about old rules. C - Kuipers if Wales win? He seemed to do the best overall of the QF referees. Mazic as the backup plan seems the other option but also a huge stretch given his UCL season.
Or Brych could handle a Wales-France final. Having your country in the semis doesn't preclude that, as EURO 2012 shows. And it doesn't seem like he's out of contention yet, if the (wrong) announcement today is anything to go by
The wrong announcement was actually a cut and paste of the Portugal-Poland announcement. I wouldn't read too much into it.
07 July Germany-France Semi Final Referee Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) Assistant referee Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA) Mauro Tonolini (ITA) Additional assistant referee Daniele Orsato (ITA) Antonio Damato (ITA) Fourth official Damir Skomina (SVN) http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/matches/round=2000450/match=2017906/match-info/index.html
I like either Clattenburg or Kuipers as a choice for the final depending upon the permutations. I think Kuipers in particular has had good match control and rapport with the players and they seem to respond well to his style.
Me too. The real question is whether or not option B is on the table. Call me crazy, but I think it could be. Not using Clattenburg after he was the star of the season and flawless this tournament makes no sense, when he could easily have done France v Germany. Collina might throw this rule out, too.
Kuipers has gone home according to his own federation. So that eliminates one option. News report in German also saying Brych is home. But who knows how well sourced. Should get confirmation later today of who is remaining.