This makes future predictions that much more difficult. Also joins Webb in pulling off a pretty impressive double (WC final/CL Final for Webb and CL Final/Euro Final for Proenca).
Possibly downright impossible. Since the beginning of the Champions League, the rule has been that if a team from your country makes the semis, you can't do the final. Now UEFA has skipped right past that standard and allowed the practice on national team matches. It's really a staggering reversal of policy. And again, Proenca is good, but he's not that good. I don't see why he should be the referee to prompt that change nor why it should be at this tournament. The only thing I can think of is that Webb wasn't acceptable to Spain and Collina & co. didn't have confidence in Eriksson or anyone else who was technically available (which, I suppose, were just Skomina and Thomson). But appointing a Final referee based on process of elimination doesn't seem to be the best practice. Yes. You could start the speculation that he's Europe's favorite for the Final in 2014, but... there are two long years to go in the interim. I remember when Lubos Michel had that tag!
Had to check to see if he got the final Portuguese version of the FA cup giving him the "referee treble". Sadly he didn't.
Think he already had it before, though! Not sure if practice in Portugal is to only give it once, which would have made the treble impossible if so.
Something new that may have gone into consideration. He's the only one that's centered BOTH teams in this tournament. Proenca had Spain - Ireland and England - Italy Webb previously had Italy, but no other "candidate" had both teams prior in this tournament.
Time to eat some crow and admit that your analysis is completely unfounded. Another major tournament comes to a close and with it so does another version of the totally pointless MassRef guessing game. You need to admit that you have zero insight into what the appointment members currently think and how they do this. You couldn't have been more inaccurate in what you wrote. http://www.uefa.com/uefa/footballfirst/matchorganisation/refereeing/news/newsid=1836359.html
Really incredible appointment. Good luck to him, and I hope he does well, but seriously? Ahead of Webb and Skomina who have both had far better tournaments? Webb would definitely have had it had it been Portugal vs Italy. I don't think Proenca has had a great tournament to be honest. He's missed (or more correctly, him and his team have missed) several serious cases of holding in the penalty area some proving costly for teams. Interestingly, one of the worst was by De Rossi on John Terry. I wonder if this has been pointed out to him in the video debrief and he might finally wise up to it.
I'm not sure what your problem is and why guessing (note "predictions" in the title) offends you so much, but let me take a stab here... A) You didn't show up to tell me to eat crow when I predicted the UCL Final correct about 2 months--if not longer--ahead of time. But hey, I'm sure you're fair and even-handed about these things. B) How do you draw the conclusion that I have "zero insight" just because I get the conclusion wrong? Those seem to be two different things. Analyzing past assigning practices doesn't qualify as "insight" in your view? That seems to be an odd interpretation. C) "You couldn't be more inaccurate in what you wrote." Wrong again. I got the conclusion wrong. But all the facts I offered were, um... how do I put this?... Oh yeah, they are "facts." And I stand by the opinions I've offered... if Spain loses Sunday on a controversial penalty, Proenca and his career are going to be in a very bad place. D) You love to miss the qualifiers in my post, such as in the one you quoted like, "so far" and "anything is possible." E) I've already said I'm amazed and, quite obviously, admitted I got it wrong. I'm sick of being diplomatic whenever you get yourself worked up over this. Some of us like playing this guessing game, including code1390 and Englishref, as well as others on this thread. Yet you always choose to single me out. I say this with my moderator hat off for a moment: if you don't like it and if you think it's pointless, just shut up about it. There's an irony here in that you're essentially shouting me down for wasting my time trying to predict something that I might get wrong. Aren't you wasting your own time shouting down something that you view as a waste of time? Hell, why are you reading this thread in the first place?
I think for all future major tournaments the committee should compile a list of all current "trends" and "rules" for appointments gleaned from the internet, and then appoint the final based primarily on the basis of violating one of the rules, just to annoy people. I think the fact is that 75 to 90% of all referees appointed to major tournaments could referee just about any match with no discernible reduction in quality. Random appointments subject only to not having referees on their own country's group, or on their own country's knockout matches, would likely lead to no more controversy than is inevitable to have anyways.
MrRC - If you don't like the prediction "guessing game", why do you read it? Do you have better insight? I've not seen it displayed. I certainly don't, but then again, I won't bash on others for my ignorance.