FIFA 2010 World Cup: Referee and former policemen Howard Web eyes final
England may have been eliminated from the World Cup but English Premier League officials Howard Webb, along with his assistant Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey are still going strong. Referees have been under heavy fire lately, with a few of them being sent home. These include the Uruguayan referees in the England-Germany match who failed to allow Lampard goal’s to stand. England crashed out of the World Cup, losing to Germany 4-1.
Webb and Co. have been retained for the latter stages, and many experts consider them to be strong favourites to officiate the final itself.
The Premier league trio have been impressive in the field, keeping firm control of their three matches so far in the World Cup. They refereed the Group H match between Spain and Switzerland, followed by the Italy-Slovakia match. They were also handed the Round-of-16 clash between 5-time Champions Brazil and Chile. So far, they have overseen all of these matches to perfection, without any mishaps or erroneous decisions.
They have been favoured to enter the ending stages of the competition with some experts saying that they can perhaps referee the final itself.
Webb is a former police officer, and uses his physical toughness to intervene and take control of potentially explosive clashes. The training he must have received during the time he was a police officer gives him the natural ability to control any dispute, and his physical and mental composure would be the key to controlling such instances. He is respected by players owing to this ability and his linesmen have also been spot on in the tightest of offside calls.
This is Webb’s first World cup and to be seen as a contender to referee the semi finals or the final is an honour itself. Webb would want to emulate Jack Taylor, who officiated the 1974 World Cup. Webb considers Taylor to be his idol.
Webb and Co. however, wouldn’t get the opportunity to officiate the quarter final, which may be a huge blow to their chances for the final. FIFA has a tradition to employ the best trio of referees who impress in the quarter finals and Webb would be concerned about this. He, however, still has a chance, provided two South American teams’ end up in the final.
There is only one European referee who has been given charge of the Quarter Final. Olegario Benquerenca of Portugal is all set to referee Friday’s clash between Uruguay and Ghana. This gives Webb a huge chance to officiate the Semi Final or the Final, and he would be keeping his fingers crossed. Webb was the referee in the Champions League final back in May, and doesn’t lack the quality or experience. He understands, however, that the competition is fierce between officials, and, praised the current officials of the tournament.
He congratulated all the officials for the good job they have been doing in the tournament so far. He gave special importance to spot on decisions by the linesman on off-sides. He insisted everyone can make mistakes, not just the officials. Goal keepers and strikers have had their shared number of fumbles and he explained that anyone who enters the pitch puts his reputation on the line.
Lampard’s disallowed goal, along with other incidents, reignited the goal line technology debate. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has already apologized to England and Mexico football bodies and has promised to examine the issue at FIFA’s meeting in July.
Webb is optimistic about the benefit technology will provide to football, provided it doesn’t disrupt the flow of the game. Webb said, "It is right and proper that things are always viewed going forward and everyone in football works to make the sport as attractive as it possibly can be”.
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