Felix Zwayer (GER) will be in charge of 2022/23 UEFA Nations League final.
Third Place Game
18 June 2023, 15:00 CET - Enschede, FC Twente Stadion
NETHERLANDS - ITALY
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mahbod Beigi (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Söderqvist (SWE)
Fourth Official: Kristo Tohver (EST)
Video Assistant Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Pawel Pskit (POL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Leslie Irvine (NIR)
UEFA Delegate: Jānis Mežeckis (LVA)
Final
18 June 2023, 20:45 CET - Rotterdam, Stadion Feijenoord 'De Kuip'
CROATIA - SPAIN
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Fourth Official: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referees: Sven Jablonski (GER), Stuart Attwell (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)
UEFA Delegate: Mark Blackbourne (ENG)
CROATIA - SPAIN
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Fourth Official: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referees: Sven Jablonski (GER), Stuart Attwell (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)
UEFA Delegate: Mark Blackbourne (ENG)
Who is the AVAR?
ReplyDeleteGermany’s best referee in the last 2 years. You will hear his name again in a few years when he will be in the running for the top competition finals.
DeleteBut indeed a strange appointment, because this should be his first international VAR game, if I am not missing anything.
DeleteOf course, at some point everyone has to have his first game, but in a final is unusual...
Furthermore I expected him to get his debut in the EURO qualifiers instead.
Surprised by Fritz with Zwayer after Liverpool vs Real Madrid
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, in my opinion a deserved appointment and a good signal for Zwayer in sight of EURO 24 after the disappointment of the last big tournements.
ReplyDeleteUEFA is preparing Germany to have two referees at their home Euro in 2024.
DeleteTwo German referees at EURO 2024, Zwayer and?
DeleteDo you still think that Siebert has trust to attend another big tournament? At moment my answer would be that we will see only Zwayer, but yes, everything can happen on next months. For sure Siebert failed many opportunities and now it is really difficult for him to show that he hasfully recovered, the time is even short to do that, if you ask me. We will see.
I think that Siebert can recover, but neither Zwayer ot Siebert are guaranteed names in my opinion. But Zwayer seems to be UEFAs plan at the moment. Germany has plenty of promising names, but 2024 comes to early for all of them.
DeleteExpected appointment for Zwayer, following the path he had in this KO stage, probably this decision was taken when he was not appointed again in club competitions.
ReplyDeleteIn thid place final, another excellent signal for Nyberg. Particular choice with fourth official, one could have expected a Category 1 for sure, but why exactly Tohver? This is impossible to guess, this time.
Two AVARs for the final, with Attwell, while regular assignment for third place game. More and more, I think the crew assigned to finals are increased as number, only to make federations happy with the selected officials...
Very busy times for Nyberg with two top appointments within a week! Hopefully, they will allow him a good, structured development.
DeleteThis appointment should mean that Soares Dias is in the pole position for the Super Cup in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree. He should be the choice.
DeleteDaniel Siebert
DeleteI would suggest Soares Dias for a final appointment at the end of the season, and expect either Jovanovic or Schärer at the Super Cup
DeleteAgree 100%. Also, this might be controversial, but NL final tie breaker between Zwayer and Dias might have been the confederation. UEFA’s budget is largely supplied by Germany more than any other country I believe so.
DeleteCongratulations to Felix Zwayer and his team
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Felxi Zwayer, Glenn Nyberg and their teams for their appointments.
ReplyDeleteEven if Nation League doesn't have the "appeal" and the importance of Euro competition, warm congratulation to Felix Zwayer and especially to Glenn Nyberg, who got two great appointment in a row at the end of an impressive grown.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that he will be promoted into Elite since 1st of July: I would like to know your idea about the other promotions: To me Pinheiro, Visser, Peljto and Mariani will be promoted as well to Elite.
Maybe Hernandez Hernandez but just for political reason, since Mateu and DCG's retirement will leave Spain with only two.
Too early for Walsh, Agayev, Obrenovic and Osmers despite their progress
Rumsas, Petrescu, Tohver and Eksas are probably borderline, fare is compared with Sidiripolous, too much if compared with Marciniak...
Ekberg and Treimainis seem have lost their train.
Finally Frappart is highly considered, so I would not exclude her promotion.
To class 1 I expect Lindhout, Ciochirca, Verboomen, Delajod, Bogar, saggi and Xajha to be promoted.
Thanks for your feedback / comment
I agree with everything except for the two referees from Belgium. Neither of Visser and Verboomen deserve the promotion in my opinion.
DeleteI think it’s clear that Frappart case more politics than Hdz Hdz. I think her path it’s more for elite referee rather than solid cat. 1, despite in fact her ability it’s just so-so, not much better than Bastien.
DeleteNyberg and Peljto -> 100%
DeleteIMO, Ekberg had a very solid season as well and is a serious contender for promotion.
Mariani was 100% before his last two games which he failed. UEFA pushed him much, so interesting to see their decision.
Pinheiro deserves the promotion but it would be a very fast track (after many years of being forgotten, though).
Difficult to say something about Visser. He rather escapes controversies but I don't think his skills REALLY deserves the elite as for now.
I think it's likely to see the promotion of Hernández Hernández, but as you said, it would be a 100% political decision just to have another Spaniard in the elite. AJHH had his chances this season but was unconvincing, imo.
Feel like giving you all an insight on Portuguese confederation these days (obviously I’m Portuguese). Portugal lived until 2021 (give it or take) very controversial times with refereeing. Controversial and unprecedented decisions that culminated in judicial accusations between clubs, so very shaky and unstable times. Also, lots of refs reaching point of retirement, with the ones replacing them being much better.
DeleteIn the last two years things took a turn, and decisions are largely accepted, refereeing with lots of quality in it. It feels like the league leadership really influences referees performance and somehow Proença (actual league president) seems to be having good really positive results, qualitywise speaking (football played, competitivity and refereeing).
All in all, it still needs a lot of restructuration, maybe if this was in the past, Godinho would now be a trusted cat. 1, card friendly Veríssimo never would have been where he is, Nobre sooner with an European final, Pinheiro longer in cat. 1 and who knows, Soares Dias with an important final already. Really a shame how the context influenciated really good refs careers.
Good to see for Zwayer, who had a very difficult time last season with the Dortmund controversy and his time off as a result.
ReplyDeleteSeems to have bounced back, on the Bundesliga stage as well as international (where he probably also benefited from below expectation performances by Siebert and Stieler).
I expect a comeback by Siebert, too, in next season, and Osmers... Who knows... For Jablonski it is still too early, but he could be the German No. 1 in 3 years!
ReplyDeleteHe is sure in germany number one.
Delete2022/23 CONCACAF Nations League Finals
ReplyDeleteSunday 18 June 2023
3rd Place Match
PANAMA - MEXICO
Referee: Daneon Estrado Parchment (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ojay Johane Duhaney (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Caleb Josef Wales (TRI)
Fourth Official: Ismael Alexander Cornejo Meléndez (SLV)
Video Assistant Referee: Tatiana Auxiliadora Guzmán Alguera (NCA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Shirley Susana Perelló López (HON)
Final
CANADA - UNITED STATES
Referee: Héctor Said Martínez Sorto (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Walter Enrique López Ramos (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Jesús Ramírez Soto (HON)
Fourth Official: Selvin Antonio Brown Chavarría (HON)
Video Assistant Referee: Ricardo José Montero Araya (CRC)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Benjamín Pineda Ávila (CRC)
The dutch tv had a interesting interview with Ceferin
ReplyDeleteHighligts for this blog
About protesting of the players
- We have to be stricter. It has become unbearable. There is constant pressure, every referee's decision is discussed. It has gone too far," said 55-year-old Ceferin.
About behaviour coaches (Mourinho)
- We must punish the referee's bullying. We haven't had time for that yet, because we had a lot of finals. We will talk about it after the season and I expect proposals from the referee committee," he says.
About Dutch image and throwing object during ECL final
- the Dutch have a bad image. All countries with these problems look bad in Europe," said the Slovenian, who expects the UEFA disciplinary committee to punish harshly - and increasingly harder - as far as he is concerned.
https://nos.nl/artikel/2479364-uefa-baas-ceferin-klaar-met-wangedrag-spelers-en-fans-het-is-ondraaglijk-geworden
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Delete@Anonymous you can report your point of view without using such terms, thanks.
DeletePossible handball before 0-2 by Italy, long check by Polish VAR.
ReplyDeleteDifficult to say because not even video footage is clear. It looks more cherst, but one can't be sure what happens later...
And finally a closer replay solved everything. 100% regular goal.
DeleteIn 34' a possible YC for SPA to Verratti but Nyberg booked another player from Italy for having kicked ball away after the foul. Verratti made another foul ad the edge of penalty area one minute later, still no card. The next foul should be YC for persistent infringment for him.
ReplyDeleteNow in 41' another possible YC for an Italian player. Nyberg very strict with dissent, but quite lenient, this is the "moden referee" aspect in him, but he adds surely personality to that, differently to other referees.
ReplyDelete45'+1 penalty appeal for handball by NED, in my opinion more shoulder than arm, but in case of clear touch by arm should have been punishable.
ReplyDeleteA very good performance by Nyberg so far in my view. Optimal foul detection and lenient, but consistent application of disciplinary line in a normal difficulty game. As Chefren stated, he is pretty strict with dissent, but with a lot of personality skills and a nicely established connection with the players, who seem to accept and respect him fully.
ReplyDeleteHowever, at least for me, a missed YC for SPA for Verratti in 34', I would have definitely liked that one to be given.
All KMIs were assessed correctly IMO, including a possible handball before 0-2 by Italy and possible handball penalty for NED in 45+1' (I'm quite sure the ball touched the defender's shoulder, not a punishable part of the arm).
Many borderline situations, very challenging game for Bartosz Frankowski as wwell. Now we have the first intervention for offside, disallowing a goal scored by NED. Not easy situation for AR2 on a free kick mostly because it wasn't clear who had touched ball.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find really remarkable is how much Nyberg communicates with the players during a VAR check
ReplyDeleteAdded time "Qatar style", 6 minutes in first half, 9 in second half. Maybe even too much, despite of VAR checks, but the Swedish is back from U20 WC, so we can easily guess that he got such instructions by Collina. :)
ReplyDeleteNyberg is a very good 'modern' referee. He's lenient card-wise but is always active and closely patrolling incidents, due to that and his good management and soft skills he can skip giving non-mandatory cards to keep control of the game.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is - FIFA/UEFA shouldn't try every referee to be like him, otherwise you'll have the nightmare performances of some recent tournaments by forcing referees to referee in a way they can't 'afford' and doesn't work for them.
May I ask, which Elite referees are able to adapt their style to follow stupid UEFA/FIFA guidelines without losing control of the game? Not that many?
DeleteAnd which brave referees dare to ignore such ‘modern’ guidelines and stick to their own style?
Your second paragraph perfectly sums up one of the problems in modern refereeing: the authorities are trying to turn their referees into robots, like it's some sort of virtue if they all use the same style and/or approach, communicate the same, use the same body language, even move in the same way. However, referees are no robots, but human beings, with individual personalities, characters, physical abilities and, of course, different mindset about refereeing and football in general (depending on the culture they come from, upbringing etc.).
DeleteOf course, I'm not saying that uniformity and consistency in interpreting the LOtG is not important, it's actually the opposite and referees should be encouraged to advance in that field. However, the way in which they enforce the Laws and how they manage and/or control games depends on their personal style which should be derived from their characteristics as human beings, their abilities and strengths. Forcing someone to do things the way you want them to is not good leadership, it's actually quite the opposite. IMHO, good leaders define goals; the tools to achieve them are for the referees to pick according to their capabilities (while upholding all the legal and moral principles and laws, of course).
And now he should watch out that these game remains in control.We had one escalation,Nyberg should be careful these last 3 minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe way Nyberg solved it with Chiesa right after the final whistle is typical of his fantastic performance this afternoon
ReplyDeleteFinal whistle: maybe finding a better moment was possible. He allowed a corner kick when it was 1 minute after the end of signaled time, then ball immediately out from the area and whistle. I think he could have waited a bit more, or, in contrary case, he shouldn't have allowed corner. It was a risky choice, nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, interaction with players until the end of the game, with a nice smile to solve a possible moment of confrontation.
This is the problem with his lenient style.
ReplyDeleteSo much leniency and with another team losing can add to the temperature of the match like we had today or week ago when he had Uruguay and Italy u20 match.
I agree,he is consistent with his line but too much leniency and not being adaptable can be a problem for him in the future.
All and all,solid performance today.
I would even say a very good performance, but you are definitely right about leniency: today it worked and he managed to keep control using his very good management and communication skills. However, the time will certainly come when such an approach won't be the optimal one and if he manages to adapt his style in such games, then I'm sure he will be one of the best in years to come. If not, then it can definitely become a problem for him. Let's hope for the former.
DeleteAll straight RC’s in Eredivisie 22/23:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/VAgySZlU4yY
A lot SFP’s. And it seems many Dutch referees put both cards together in a notepad. Can’t say I’m a big fan of that :-)
Better than La Liga where they pull out the yellow and red and then show one of the cards.
DeleteTrue :D
DeleteIn the Premier League pretty much none of them use I’m not sure half of then even have one. Only Simon Hooper uses one. Some of them have a YC and RC in same pocket though for second yellows, Oliver, Dean Atkinson spring to mind as well as some of the older referees
DeleteNo remarks about Zwayer so far..?
ReplyDeleteNothing to add so far for Zwayer because it’s so football focus game without any controversies or if we speak frankly it has been boring game so far. The only think maybe we can praise the ARs performances with all correct decision in tight situation so far.
DeleteZwayer‘s communication with players is remarkable. I really like his style. He is well accepted due to this. Of course, the game iself does not offer any controversies so far
ReplyDeleteVery good game so far from Zwayer. Good communication and calm appearance
ReplyDeleteAwful game to watch. Zwayer has performed well but not much to do
ReplyDeleteThanks! Now I saw two good YC to Gavi and Petkovic, the latter was probably based on input from AR1 or F4. Nevertheless correct decisions. Very fair game apart from that.
ReplyDeleteA very fair game indeed, which makes Zwayer's job easier, however he is doing well so far. Two mandatory YCs correctly given, as you reported, and I think there were no mandatory cards missed. The only mistakes I can report are missed illegal use of arm by Brozović on Gavi in 55' (IIRC) and missed foul on Petković in 66', that's everything I can remember for now.
DeleteVery good communication and management by Zwayer, gaining full acceptance and respect by the players and ensuring full control over the game. Let's hope he continues like this.
Very poor game to be watched, teams focused on playing football but an extremely boring one. Sad final so far..
ReplyDeleteTo check the penalty appeal in 20' for handball, the rest... nothing.
IMO Croatian aiming to bring the game into PSO.
DeleteNow a penalty appeal on each side but play on is surely the right decision in both cases.
ReplyDeleteAnormal two non VAR interventions with Spain goalkeeper…two blatant infringments…
ReplyDeleteSurely you saw the freezed images where you can clearly see the goalkeeper with one leg either on or behind the line, right?
DeleteAbsolutely nothing illegal there, so nothing for the VAR to intervene for.
DeleteLotG, Law 14, page 117:
"When the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, in line with, or behind, the goal line."
<< puta puta >> a big fight after that alba didn’t listen to zwayer, still decente the arbitral aleman overally.
ReplyDeleteAs I said week ago, Nyberg is big name for the future.
ReplyDeleteA very good performance by Zwayer tonight, at least for my taste. The game was pretty fair most of the time, but he did what he had to do, and did it well. Good foul detection most of the time (2-3 missed fouls, but nothing too important) and correct and optimal disciplinary line, with all the mandatory YCs correctly given IMO. There was a short period in the 1st half of ET when the game became a little more heated, but Zwayer properly issued two YCs to keep things in check. One of those includes a reckless tackle by Nacho on Petković from behind, with studs contact on the back of the lower leg, above the ankle; however, the force was low and contact was made with the tip of the sole only, therefore I think that YC was enough there.
ReplyDeleteAll KMIs were solved correctly or at least supportably, I think. I need to rewatch a potential penalty situation for Spain in 45', just before the end of the 1H; initially, I had the impression of a play on being correct, or at least more correct.
Zwayer showed some excellent communication skills tonight, managing the players and the game in an optimal manner, which gained him acceptance and respect from the players and ensured his full control. There seems to have occurred a confrontation of some sorts at the end of ET, but, unfortunately, I didn't see it because of the commercials by the broadcaster. Judging by the peaceful breakup, which I have seen, the referee crew probably dealt with the matter accordingly.
To conclude, a very positive night for Zwayer, IMO. I hope he can keep improving his form and for a performance like this to become a constant for him in the seasons to come.
When can we expect UEFA U21 appointments?
ReplyDeleteGEORGIA PORTUGAL ESKAS
DeleteBELGIUM HOLLAND AGHAYEV
What about hand ball in 23 minute match Spain vs Croatia ?
ReplyDeleteNo Handball!!!
Delete