Friday, July 1, 2011

Watching the Matches

As you may imagine, officiating at the World Cup is special for many reasons aside from actually officiating matches. As a group we watch each and every match of the tournament. It is an incredible experience to be able to watch matches with other high level referees and be able to discuss situations as they occur. We watch and study each game as way to prepare for our next match by observing the teams, tactics, and game situations. And of course, we enjoy watching beautiful football!



We have very strong camaraderie amongst the referees, so every time we see our colleagues make good decisions we cheer and applaud for our teammates.



Nine different venues are being used for the World Cup, which means it is not possible to watch the majority of the games live. Thus, up until this point, we have only been able to watch matches on TV. Yesterday we had a special treat. We went to our first match as spectators, to watch Germany vs. Nigeria at the Frankfurt Stadium. The atmosphere at the game was absolutely incredible! The sold out stadium had more than 49,000 spectators cheering loudly for their team--particularly, for the host country team.



Tomorrow we travel to Wolfsburg for our second match. Please wish us luck!
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2 comments:

  1. Dan MahoneyJuly 1, 2011 at 2:18 PM

    We are so proud of you all. You're doing a great job. We referees at home spend time watching what you three are doing, sometimes more than the players. Keep up the good work and know that you have the entire US referee force (and especially those of us from Cal North) behind you.

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  2. DeniseJuly 1, 2011 at 5:02 PM

    Congratulations on the first game! Safe travels to Wolfsburg...all the best for a great game!! Will be watching for sure!

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