Quarterfinals, match day 4

The first three days of play no longer mean anything, and it all comes down to the next three fixtures to determine success or failure on the part of the teams at the Iber Cup. My day began once again at 6:00am, in order to catch the early bus to the fields. I have been getting such little sleep that I have been sleeping whenever I get the chance, yesterday, I even took an hour nap in the referee changing room during my game off. I was off for the first game, but after a snooze on the bus, I woke feeling refreshed, so I watched the first game with the assessor, discussing some focal points of the match in front of us. The fixture we were watching was Russian professional squad FC zenit against a Spanish side. While FC zenit seemed to be the better team, they fell 1-0 in the first half due to a penalty. The game became very physical and the Dutch referee did a great job at keeping control. Zenit levelled the score in the second last minute, and the match went to penalties. As if that was not close enough, after 5 penalties, both teams had scored 4, so it went to sudden death. After 7 kicks from the mark, The Russian giant was slayed, and had been eliminated from the tournament. 

Photo from the week prior, seeing Madrid with Paul Noble, Sarah Grundy, and Tom Beeton, all British referees. 

Before my match, I had to referee kicks from the penalty mark between two teams who were equal in all other tie-breakers. They had the same points, head to head, and goal difference, so penalty kicks were the only way to solve it. The loser would then play the American team in my game following. Even though two of their misses were redone as my assistant flagged for the keeper coming off his line, ultimately, Kenkre FC of India lost to a Portuguese squad. This then set up my match between Kenkre FC of India and Sokkers FC of Chicago, USA. 

In the knockout match, both teams wanted it badly, but it was clear from the get-go that it was a one-sided fixture. USA stormed to a 3-0 lead early, and the first half was relatively quiet, other than a third minute caution for a reckless Indian challenge. The second half, USA held possession for around 80% of the game, and were content to just move the ball around nicely. The game ended 4-0, and this was by far my easiest match of both tournaments. I was assessed on it, and I got the top mark possible for this game of an 8.3. As a refresher, the best mark is an 8.5, but the game must be considered very difficult. an 8.4 can be awarded to a difficult game (this is what the referee before me got), and an 8.3 is the top mark for a normal difficulty game. I would like to think that games are kept at a normal level by proactive refereeing and good man management, so I am always happy to have games fall in that category. While I love a war, now and then it is nice to have an easy fixture. My average for the tournament for marks is 8.3, and I received one 8.1 the week prior, so hopefully this is a high enough average to get me some Semi-finals and consolation finals tomorrow, and maybe even a final on Saturday (fingers crossed).

Does it get any more international then USA vs. India, refereed by a Canadian, a Dutchman, and 2 Gibraltarans?

Kevin