The 17th team at Euro 2004 do not have thousands of fans screaming their names with affection or wearing them proudly emblazoned on replica shirts. But, in their own way, they can win and lose as many matches as any team in the tournament — and if their names are screamed by supporters it is usually in derogatory terms. The 17th team are the men in black and they have largely kept a relatively low profile — which is not often the case. For the officiating has been one of the success stories of the tournament and vastly superior to the refereeing at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups when some bizarre and inexplicable decisions wrecked key matches and with it teams’ hopes. In Sicily a row of public toilets has been named after Byron Moreno, the Ecuadorean referee later banned from the game and whose eccentric officiating of Italy’s second-round match against co-hosts South Korea put them out of the competition. That sort of thing has not happened in Portugal. The 12 referees and their 24 assistants, as UEFA and FIFA like to call them, or linesmen, as real fans know them, have hardly caused a stir throughout the 24 group matches. Most decisions have been right and there have been few major mistakes. Working in threes, all from the same country, the referee and linesmen have built up teamwork and understanding. Based at the luxury five-star Solverde hotel, just outside Espinho, UEFA’s top referees have been training together, analysing their matches on a daily basis and holding regular open days for the media throughout the tournament. They have been able to explain the problems and pressures in a way not seen before and they are in the main regular guys. Italian Pierluigi Collina, the game’s top referee, might appear to come from a different planet when, eyes bulging and bald pate glistening in the floodlights, he admonishes an errant fullback for a particularly nasty tackle. But he, like the others, is a down-to-earth man with a passion for football. This is Collina’s last major tournament as he reaches the retirement age of 45 next year and Switzerland’s Urs Meier, Gilles Veissiere of France and Dane Kim Milton Nielsen will all be retiring in the next year or two. But none of them are quite done yet. In fact Meier, a charming Swiss, created the first major talking point when he disallowed Sol Campbell’s late goal against Portugal that would have given England a last minute lead in their quarter-final on Thursday. He ruled that John Terry had impeded Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo as Campbell headed home although TV pictures showed it was a controversial decision, at least for the English. But until FIFA approve video replays, the referee has to call it as he sees it. Since world soccer’s governing body is unlikely to allow video replays to be used in the foreseeable future, the referee’s decision will always be final. With Italy eliminated Collina, who refereed the opening match between hosts Portugal and Greece and set a standard of excellence most have maintained, is favourite for the final. If he does get the job it would complete a special treble since he also refereed the 1999 Champions League final and the 2002 World Cup final. Tournaments like this are always bitter-sweet for referees because the longer their own country remains involved, the less chance they have of making the final themselves. Volker Roth, the head of UEFA’s referees panel, says they have to retire to allow the second tier of younger referees the chance to handle the major tournaments and big matches. Roth claims some of them are at an even higher standard and deserve their chance. But there appears to be room for yet more top-class referees and, if they are fit enough, the world’s best refs should be able to officiate until well into their 50s. (Reuters)
