© EuroFootball.com
One after another, breaking various records, the referee from Argentina, Horacio Elizondo, will likely be one of the most noticeable figures on the field in the World Cup final match between Italy and France this Sunday.
The 42-year-old physical education teacher from Argentina, who will become the first representative of this South American country to referee a World Cup final, showed 22 yellow cards and sent players off the field twice during the four matches in this tournament.
According to number theory, there should be at least five players cautioned in the final, and there is a 50 percent chance that a player from one of the teams will be sent off the field.
H. Elizondo will be the first referee to officiate both the opening and final matches of the World Cup, as well as the second referee, who officiated in five matches in one World Cup. The first referee was Mexico's Benito Archundia, who refereed the semi-final between Germany and Italy.
The Argentine, who speaks Spanish and English, is one of the most experienced and respected referees in South America, but he has quite a few critics in Ghana, South Korea, and England, as well as in the national teams of those countries.
His officiating in the World Cup opening match between host Germany and Costa Rica was an excellent example of refereeing - the Argentine firmly held the reins and showed only one yellow card. However, the E group match between the Czech Republic and Ghana was quite different.
Seven players received yellow cards, and Czech player Tomas Ujfalusi was sent off the field for a foul, after which Ghana had the opportunity to take a penalty kick.
While H. Elizondo was sending a player off the field, Ghana's striker Asamoah Gyan decided to take the penalty kick earlier than usual and received a yellow card for it, which later led him to miss the next match against the USA.
In the matches between Switzerland and South Korea, H. Elizondo received criticism for allowing a questionable Swiss goal in the 77th minute, ignoring the flag raised by his countryman assistant referee for Alexander Frei's goal, even though some South Korean players had stopped playing.
After these matches, FIFA had to block its email inbox from all emails from South Korea to protect its website. In addition, there were threats to blow up the Swiss embassy in Seoul.
However, H. Elizondo received the most attention when he sent off England's star Wayne Rooney in the quarter-final match between Portugal and England.
Although W. Rooney himself protested and claimed to be innocent, FIFA President Sepp Blatter publicly expressed his support for H. Elizondo.
Born on November 4, 1963, H. Elizondo has been working as a referee since 1996. He has twice - in 2002 and 2005 - officiated the Copa Libertadores finals in South America, as well as twice - in Copa America finals.
Himself, H. Elizondo claims that he became a referee by chance, but now he believes that he was lucky back then.
"It seems like I was born to referee," the Argentine told the FIFA website. "I never regretted my decision. I realized that football combines three key things in my life: sport, teaching, and justice."
