The World Cup final is the ultimate test not only for the players, but also for a referee to prove his mettle, as well as dignity. Simon Marciniak was given the prestigious task of officiating the title match at the World Cup in Qatar.
The 41-year-old Polish referee's handling of the match was free of controversy. Argentina, France players of both teams were not seen to express any dissatisfaction. FIFA is also happy with Marchiniak for managing the final with a strong hand with intelligence. World football's governing body of referees chief Pierluigi Colina called Marchiniak 'the second most important person in Poland after the Pope'.
However, Marchiniak remains somewhat uneasy about the fiercely contested Argentina-France final. A total of 45 fouls were committed by both teams in the tiebreaker match. Seven people have seen yellow cards. Marciniak thought the players would be a little more flexible in the Argentina-France final, full of big names, 'It was the most difficult match of my match-management career. On the other hand, the best match I have ever seen. It is not easy to referee a match where both teams are fighting for the highest possible goal. Unfortunately, the behavior of the players of both teams was worse than I expected.
Marciniak feels some decisions in the match could have been different, 'maybe another yellow card could have been shown. I wanted all the players to play till the end of the match. It's the World Cup final. Let both teams finish the match with 11 men.
Before the final there was much discussion about the refereeing of the Argentina-Netherlands quarter-final match. Spanish referee Antonio Mateo Lahoz showed a total of 18 yellow cards to the players and coaching staff of the two teams that day.
Marchiniak said that he had the Argentina-Netherlands match in mind before directing the match in the final. In an interview with Poland's oldest and only sports daily, Przeglad Sportowy Onet, he said, 'Since the Netherlands-Argentina match, there has been some concern about the players' behavior towards the referees. That's why everyone wanted the tournament to end peacefully. Because, at the end of the day, everyone remembers the final match. Now it's nice to think that people are talking about great goals, talking about the skill of the players. No one is hearing about our refereeing.'
Post a Comment