For
In the 66 years of the European Cup, 29 since it was renamed the Champions League, only three Spanish referees have had the honor of directing a final. A smaller proportion if the historical weight of Spanish football within the international concert is taken into account, but when assessing the percentage it must always be borne in mind that the designation of the ‘braid’ of the final is directly related to the nationality of the contending clubs. Antonio Mateu Lahoz will be today, in Porto, the fourth privileged person to referee a final.
Manuel Diaz Vega. 1996. Juventus-Ajax (1-1. 4-2, penalties) “It was the longest game of my life. I never whistled one like that “
Nor do I forget that I pitched for bronze at the Barcelona Games and lived in the Olympic Village
Diaz Vega
Barcelona 92. “When they ask me if the Champions League final was my big day as a referee, I always answer that I have a choice because I had the honor of whistling at the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games. I led the match for the bronze medal and I did not whistle the final because Fortunately, there was Spain, who won the gold. This is how I share events. Not forgetting that in 94 I was in the World Cup in the USA and in 96 in the European Championship in England. global sport. I lived happily in the Olympic village. It was more than just a game in itself. “
The news is given by a journalist. “The Champions League final has more uniqueness. It is the culmination of hard work, effort and dedication to refereeing in a serious, professional way. For a referee to get this match, a series of circumstances have to occur. The first one that do not play a Spanish team and the second that you are in top form and offer guarantees. For a referee to whistle it should be like for a footballer to play it. And if he wins it better. “
“I found out about my appointment at the door of my house in Oviedo and a journalist told me that he was precisely going to look for me to interview me. I gave the news to the Referees Committee. The situation is curious. They did not know anything either. They had to call the Federation and UEFA itself to confirm it. The illusion was enormous. I faced it like any other match. The previous protocol was the same. It only changes the staging a little. Everything is under control, detailed “.
“I traveled the day before to Rome. We stayed at the hotel where all the guests and UEFA executives were. He had a barbaric team. Fernando Tresaco and Joaquín Olmos, assistants and José María García Aranda, four referee. We trained the day before in the afternoon near the Olympic stadium and we did not leave the hotel for anything else. After lunch we had a meeting between us to finish preparing the game and then leave for the field “.
As I recall, they only gave us a medal with the UEFA crest, but it was an honor
Diaz Vega
“The match was comfortable. There was nothing strange. I don’t remember any controversial play. Ajax then had the flag of fast, vertical football, very colorful. The Italians always played on the edge of what was allowed, but for that they put a referee, to determine as far as it can be allowed and differentiate the regulation from the non-regulation. That was the game as the longest of my life. I think I did not direct another with 90 minutes, extra time and penalties. As I remember, UEFA gave us a medal with the organization’s shield. Nothing more, but it was an honor. “
Mateu in top form. “I cannot give Antonio any advice. He is an expert enough man to know at all times what he has to do. He knows first-hand the two teams because he has already led them several times and if someone has to give him any advice. they will be your direct bosses at UEFA. I can say little to someone with so much experience. He deserved it. Like other referees before and they did not succeed because there were Spanish clubs in the final. If they have chosen him for this final it is because he is the referee that at this moment he is in better shape. He has been doing it for years. There are also others trained, such as Carlos del Cerro. Undiano Mallenco could have directed it before, Carlos Velasco himself… “.
Match by match. “I was in the pools to whistle that final because there was no Spanish team and I had had a good season. It’s been 16 years since then and I remember everything as if it had been yesterday. I was not a referee of setting goals and obsessing over objectives. I always went from day to day and didn’t eat my head. Then if they don’t give you a game like this, the hit is important. It was a constant in my life. I was not obsessed with going up to Second or First. I was going game by game. I would never have imagined, though, that a Champions League final could whistle. When you are already in the elite group, you see that you are refereeing matches of the eighth, quarter-final … and the final arrived. The League referees are a guarantee in this sense. We are used to working with pressure and that is a plus. “
Awesome ending. “If we compare, for a referee to whistle a Champions final can be even more important than for a player. They have more opportunities and also play Euro Cups and World Cups. They are always in the elite and they can play some up to two and three as in the case of those of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético… We also depend on them, not on ourselves. The significance is enormous. For me it was the reward for having worked every day to do things well. “
My final was a tribute to football and a demonstration that even the tail is all bull
Mejuto
“It was an impressive final as a game because of the changes that took place on the scoreboard. I could never relax. Milan’s 3-0 in the first half went to Liverpool’s draw in the Second. It was a night to remember in the history of the game. football. An example of how everything is bull in football. On the pitch I realized that the Liverpool players did not lower their arms and showed that with faith you can turn things around. What if the Spanish Liverpool put a lot of pressure on me? No, there was no problem, quite the opposite. I preferred to address them in English, to maintain an equality with the Italians, but surely there were times when we spoke in Spanish. They were always very correct, Both Rafa Benítez and the footballers. With the Italians he also understood me well. It caught my attention how the Milan team knew how to lose after they had come back from 3-0. Almost everyone knows how to win, but despite the stick they it got male their behavior was exemplary. They were 10 “.
Friend Gattuso. “In addition to being a referee, I tried to maintain a personal relationship with the protagonists. For example, with Gattuso I got along very well, I gave him the penalty and he didn’t say anything. He was a great guy. I knew when I could talk to him, when not. Those players Brave, of character, they were always good for me. If you knew how to take them they would end up on your ground. At the end of the penalty shoot-out I tried more to console the loser than to congratulate the champions for the many Spaniards who were there because they already celebrated it alone. You feel the most sorry for those who lose who are on the ground disconsolate. They are the ones who most need a word of support. “
English football. “A referee of Mateu’s level cannot be given any advice. I congratulated him on his day. He takes over. He takes many years and he deserves it. For Spanish football, calling a final is a success. You just have to tell him to be himself. If they gave him the final it’s because he did a good job. UEFA knows how to referee and they may have chosen him for this match between two English teams, because of the way he refereeing. I remember I also called a semi-final between Chelsea and Arsenal and before the game Mourinho said that the Spanish referee would have to adapt to the fact that two English teams were playing. In the end he congratulated me. It was one of the easiest games of my life. The referees adapt to whatever they want teams. Now there are more foreign players in English football, but it is a football that is characterized by having almost no stoppages. The culture of a country, of a player, is noticeable in their way of playing. They are strong, brave, but noble and balanced. The referee adapts to what It asks for the game and in English football if they dedicate themselves to playing, doing their job and not protesting, then let them play. “
The referee who always has the expensive mass, a bad thing. Sometimes a smile is worth a look
Mejuto
Referee psychology. “I’m sure Antonio is going to benefit from all of this that I am talking about. He likes to let play and sanction what it is. I ask him that within the concentration he has to have, that he enjoy it, that it is an occasion in life And it happens very quickly By letting play, you cannot stop sanctioning a foul if it is a foul. Psychology is a fundamental part of refereeing. Eighty percent. The good referee is the one who has a smile for certain moments. The referee who always has the same face, bad thing. A referee is like a policeman, a security guard, he has to know at all times what to do. It’s like with your children, sometimes a smile, a look, that’s okay. The face is the mirror of the soul. Knowing how to calm down in a moment of tension and more so now with the VAR. You have to take the matches like a horse. Now I tighten the reins, now I release them. It’s like a pressure cooker. Sometimes you have to open the valve and sometimes close it. Sometimes let play and sometimes stop “.
The fourth official. Arturo Daudén Ibáñez was the fourth official in that final and kept, as can be seen in these photographs, all possible memories. “From the band I was struck by the tension with which the game was lived from the benches and how the situation changed from the first to the second half, as the result changed. The silence and the shouts were exchanged. Penalties, from the Liverpool bench they kept shouting advice to Dudek. The atmosphere before the kickoff was also impressive. The dream vibrated with the chants. I had never seen anything like it. “
Your case may be unique in the history of world football. José María Ortiz de Mendíbil (Portugalete, 1926-2015) came out on the shoulders of the Santiago Bernabéu turf after refereeing the 1969 European Cup final between Milan and Ajax (4-1). It was the first time that a Spanish referee had that privilege and the fans took to the field to lift him up after the final whistle.
In those days, the Portuguese was considered by FIFA and UEFA as the number 1 in our country. In 1964 he had already directed the final of the Intercontinental Cup between Inter and Independiente (1-0) and just the previous season he had whistled the final of the Recopa, Milan-Hamburg (2-0) and the Eurocopa, Italy-Yugoslavia (2-0). Later, he whistled the semifinal of the 70 World Cup, Brazil-Uruguay (3-1) and another final of the Recopa.
Without the current professionalism, on the eve of the final, José María spent the morning like any other day in the chemical products company where he worked and in the afternoon, in his car, if he went to the outskirts of Madrid where he spent the night to be further away from the hustle and bustle. Only on the morning of the game did he occupy the room reserved for him in the capital and three hours earlier he headed to the Santiago Bernabéu.
The chronicles of the time speak that his refereeing was almost perfect, although he allowed some hard tackles from the Italians. He hit even the penalty that was the goal of the Dutch honor. His words after the game attract attention because they entered into technical considerations.
“Normally, these finals are surrounded by an environment that favors the refereeing work. I am very happy, he dedicated it to my four-year-old daughter Mari Carmen. Milan deserved to win even by more goals. By scoring the third, the decision was made to win. The game was much better. The Dutch hopes were sunk then. Milan beat Ajax’s greatest physical strength by their technique. Ajax’s left inside (Johan Cruyff) seemed very good to me. There was no difficulty in My mission. Both teams have behaved with the utmost correctness. “
#gave #Mateu #final #refereeing
source https://pledgetimes.com/they-gave-mateu-the-final-because-of-his-way-of-refereeing/
Disqus comments