June 27, 2002

Pierluigi Collina Superstar: Download your autographed photo. Now that he has been officially selected to officiate the Brazil-Germany final, watching him will make the game even more intriguing.

posted by Voyageman to soccer at 09:04 AM - 3 comments

Very interesting. Nike versus Adidas. Refereed by Adidas.

posted by Fat Buddha at 03:07 PM on June 27, 2002

Collina rules. Best ref of the tourney, followed by the ref for the Germany v Korea game. No-nonsense, yet knows when to "play on" and keep the game flowing. Also, he reminds me of the kid in the "Phenomenon" movie. Or a good-looking Borg (Trekkies, anyone?). Adidas should sponsor his head and get their logo tattooed on it. (They've probably already asked.)

posted by worldcup2002 at 05:17 PM on June 27, 2002

The man's a star. Most Brits will have got to know him through C4's 'Football Italia', as 'the baldy ref'. And then as 'the really, really good baldy ref, who makes Paul Durkin look like the ginger incompetent he is.' He did an interview with the BBC before the tournament, talking about the way that referees work -- lots of preparation, but attempting to minimise prejudice -- and I'm sure that no-one, even Paul Ince, will deny that he deserves the honour (poison chalice?) of reffing the final. He's an opponent of excessive technology for all the best reasons: players are allowed to make mistakes, and if there were no dubious refereeing decisions, what would people talk about during the week? And he'll be retiring (by FIFA edict) in 2005, so it's only right and proper that he gets the job.

posted by etagloh at 08:52 PM on June 27, 2002

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