I have been able to restrain my enthusiasm about many of the referees in the WCQs and the World Cup. But there is one referee I think is superb, and that man is Carlos Batres of Guatemala. He reffed the Gold Cup Final, the U.S.-Argentina friendly, the US-Costa Rica WCQ at Saprissa, the Mexico-Costa Rica WCQ at Saprissa, and the Mexico-Honduras WCQ in Azteca. The guy is amazing. I was at three of these games and he does not seem to even hear the crowd. Saprissa and Azteca are two of the toughest places in the world but it does not seem to faze him. He did a fine job at the World Cup in the Germany-Paraguay game but did not get a call after that. Too bad for the sport.
Best: Collina or Brian Hall Worst: Peter Prendergast. He did the FIRST US-Costa Rica WCQ that ended w/ a uhm controversial PK call, do we have hands on our chests??????? He has also given countless other screw jobs (mainly to the US). Oh and that dude from Ecuador who reffed the South Korea-Italy match (need I say more... ok I will) and was suspended from reffing in the top league in Ecuador. Can't remember his tho, somebody help me out.
Byron Moreno. 3 goals scored for the home team during 12 minutes of stoppage time for a come-from-behind win. And Moreno was running for office in the city of the home team....And to think that I actually felt that he was given too much grief for the Italy game! As far as good refs, Angel Sanchez from Argentina is pretty good but there is another one from Argentina that I think is better, but I can't remember his name...Horacio something, I think.
Byron Moreno. He's reffing again, so I read. He officiated USA-Portugal as well, did nothing particularly offensive in that one. I think there was one in which McBride was taken down in the box and nothing was called, but we won so it doesn't really matter much now, does it?
After seeing the replay, I was convinced that he made the right call with the second yellow for a dive.
Sorry to disagree with you Alberto, but I think Moreno was terrible in the Portugal game. We were REALLY riding him in the second half. Moreno may ref in the next World Cup. This months World Soccer Magazine interviewed him and said he has gotten his license back and may Ref in Germany in 2006. The more things change the more they stay the same....
Best Ref: P. Colina Absolute worst ref in the world for more reasons than the US/Germany match: Hugh Dallas....he's butchered many Old Firm matches as well.
It's a pity the analysis I did of the matches is gone. Because Moreno got very high marks for match control. He did a great job and the caution to Beasley was absolutely correct too.
Alberto, the next time you do something like the match analysis that you did on last years WC, you should save them separately. That's a lot of work to risk on a server crash and a valuable tool for referees.
He was fine in the first half but lousy in the second. I think Collina is good but there seems to be a cult of personality growing around him. I think he has a deal with Nike. I also think FIFA raised the age limit to accomodate him. Best referee may be an oxymoron because two of the most famous refs in Europe, Urs Meier and Hugh Dallas, were absolutely disgraceful in the Cup. Maybe that is why they were chosen. Just my opinions.
If you go back and see the Korea vs Italy game once again, you can see that Moreno warned Totti twice befor the dive. Totti already had one after he elbowed Kim in the face. The offside against Tomassi was very close but Moreno didn't make the call and the Koreans stopped after they heard the whistle. US vs. Portugal and Korea vs. Italy was well officiated match and it's just too bad Moreno had to suffer because of Italy's sour grapes.
I believe that the accusations against Mr. Moreno are far more serious than the Korea match, which much of the world felt was rigged. Prior to the World Cup, Mr. Moreno reffed a WCQ in Conmebol, in the presence of Sepp Blatter, that was widely considered not on the level. I believe he called two dubious penalties which decided the match. In an Ecuadorian League game subsequent to the Cup, he added 7 minutes injury time, then 6 more, then put down 3 on his card, while a Quito team finally beat a Guayaquil team. Mr. Moreno is on the city council of Quito. He was suspended for 20 weeks following this "game". But now he is back and coming soon to a stadium near you. Mr. Moreno denied reports that he had been given a new Chevrolet in Miami for fixing the Italy match, and derides Italy as a mediocre team. Just my opinions.
Here's a quote from England's Observer report regarding the best referee at WC2002. Best referee Guillem Balague: "Byron Moreno (he only made one mistake, or better, his assistant did - the offside to Tomassi). The worst was Lopez Nieto - no match in the World Cup has deserved 16 cards." Let's get off the conspiracy theory since Italy lost because they tried to defend 1-0 lead. Christian Vieri came out later and admitted they lost to Korea NOT because of MORENO but because of their defensive tactic. For those of you still crying about a fix, go back and watch the game again closely and see the Italian elbows that were flying all over the field. Vieri actually broke his marker's nose. I'm not completely defending what Moreno did before and after the world cup, but I feel that he did a good job in two matches I saw him officiate.
I'm not sure about "much of the world". Certainly all of Italy, but I had the impression everyone else thought the Italians were just a bunch of crybabies. Certainly Mr. Moreno has come under quite a bit of scrutiny for some things he's done which seem to be a bit beyond the realm of what normally takes place. I would be shocked if he were invited to Germany 2006...but then again Peter Prendergast kept on getting assignments long after he had proven his ineptitude. So ya never know. Isn't rating the "greatest referee in the world" somewhat meaningless? Based on whose criteria? I like Collina, but I do agree somewhat that his reputation might have gotten a little too big. His marketing deal is with adidas, not Nike. I thought the Norwegian guy who did the Real Madrid-Juve game yesterday did a great job. Maybe he's the greatest referee in the world, for today anyhow.
I'm Ecuadorian and I know Byron Moreno really well, I've seen him all his career. I won't say he's the worst ref in the world, but he's definitively not one of the best. Technicaly he's not that bad, his problem is his personality, he's the tipical ref who wants to be the star of the game, an egocentric scumbag. He loves to go after the stars of both teams, and he'd be the happiest if he ejects them, like he did with Totti. That didn't surprised me at all. Now, the thing he did in that game in the Ecuadorian tournament really surprised me, the one with the 12 minutes of stoppage time, I never thought that he was capable of such a thing, and the political connection is even more disturbing, besides the fact of him running for office, the president of the team who won is a powerful industry guy, former presidential candidate and one of Quito's most important political figures. Of course, when he was suspended by the Ecuadorian Federation, Quito's teams were the ones defending him. But don't worry, even if he's back to reffing, I don't think FIFA will select him again for a World Cup.
OK, since this thread was meant to be about the good refs, I'll try to get it back on track, because I think it is a worthwhile topic. I finally remembered the guy's name from Argentina-Claudio Martin-I think. Now that I say that, I realize why it is much more interesting to discuss bad refs. What can you say about a good ref, other than he does a good job?
About good referees I have several. Pier Luigi Collina, sure his reputation preceeds him, but watch him work. His best attributes: 1. Anticipates better than anyother referee where the ball and where the action is going. 2. Has a great attitude with regard to the players. He has fun and the players feel that he lets them play, but keeps the game safe for them. He gets as a result very little dissent. See item 3 for more on this attribute. 3. As casual as he can be. He squashes dissent quickly. He goes from smile to the baldheaded guy from the horror films in a split second and makes know in no uncertain terms that it's enough. Has tremendous authority on the field. 4. Fitness. Very fit and quite quick, but again his uncanny knack for being where the action is his most valuable attribute. Anders Frisk 1. Fearless. Never afraid to make the tough call. 2. Fair. Has no hesitation in his decisions. 3. Signals. I think Frisk as much of a showman as he is, does the best job of sell calls with his use of the whistle and signalling plus body language. 4. Communication. Like Collina, he does a great job of speaking verbally and non verbally with players. He must have studied acting, that's how clear his communication is. He would make a bad poker player. More to follow back to work....
The best referee I saw from Argentina was Javier Castrilli. Honest, fair, courageous and with a great feel for the game.
Blong, I think you refer to Horacio Elizondo, who is probably considered the next marquee referee from Argentina, and will probably follow in the footsteps of Sanchez and go to WC 2006. He is best known internationally for sending off Beckham in the World Club Championship in Brazil in the match vs. Necaxa.
Yes and no. I was really trying to think of Martin, but Elizondo's name kept getting in the way. Elizondo is good too, but I've only seen him a couple times.
"Technicaly he's not that bad, his problem is his personality, he's the tipical ref who wants to be the star of the game, an egocentric scumbag." He would fit in just fine with the umps in Major League Baseball. Well, after he gained 100 pounds.
Well, everyone who watches will get to watch Mr. Prendergast again tonight -- he's doing the US v. Mexico game.
US Refs So now we have talked about the best in the world......How about the best we have in the US? Obviuosly Hall, Baharmast, and other individuals are going to come to mind because of World Cup experiance. Any thoughts?
I would nominate the referee from Sweden, Anders ...... (and I let myself down by forgetting his surname, which is one syllable I believe) begins with an "S"? He refereed in the World Cup, and does the "Champions League" a lot. Perhaps not the "best in the world" at present, but a candidate for the future. "Numero Uno" at present must be.. "Mr. C". The Italian is untouchable at present form his nearest contenders.