World Cup final referee admits he made a mistake in Argentina-France clash
World Cup final referee Szymon Marciniak has admitted to making a potentially costly mistake during his widely publicized performance in Qatar. Marciniak was the middle man and was hailed for controlling the chaos as Argentina beat France in one of the most memorable World Cup finals in history.
The Polish referee and his assistants Pawel Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz received deserved applause, leaving no doubt about crucial decisions in the biggest match of the football calendar. French media criticized him for allowing Lionel Messi's goal in extra time because three Argentine substitutes broke FIFA rules by entering the pitch before the ball crossed the line.
Marciniak responded by showing a screenshot of seven French players standing on the pitch as Kylian Mbappe netted his equalizing penalty later in the game. However, although he handled the big decisions of the game perfectly, he admitted that his performance was not entirely error-free.
Speaking to Polish media, he admitted that he would have done some things differently at the Lusail stadium, including letting a peculiar counter-attack from France continue. That said, he expressed his joy that he did not make a critical error in the historic encounter despite the difficulty of refereeing a match of this magnitude to perfection.
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He said: "Of course there were mistakes in this final. I interrupted the French counterattack after a bad tackle from Marcos Acuna.
"I was afraid that the fouled player wanted to relax, and I misread because nothing happened, and you could give an advantage and then come back with a card. That's is hard. In a game like this, I take a mistake so much in the dark. The important thing is that there were no big mistakes."
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Despite his outstanding performance in the World Cup final, the pinnacle of all referees, Marciniak remains grounded. He understands that the pressure will now be at its highest when he returns to his duties at club level.
"Of course, we also keep our feet on the ground," he added. "We know where our place is. We know that now the pressure will be even greater because it was like that when we were promoted to the top flight. If we go to the league after this World Cup final and 'we make a mistake, they'll say, 'The World Cup has been judged.'"
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World Cup final referee Szymon Marciniak has admitted to making a potentially costly mistake during his widely publicized performance in Qatar. Marciniak was the middle man and was hailed for controlling the chaos as Argentina beat France in one of the most memorable World Cup finals in history.
The Polish referee and his assistants Pawel Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz received deserved applause, leaving no doubt about crucial decisions in the biggest match of the football calendar. French media criticized him for allowing Lionel Messi's goal in extra time because three Argentine substitutes broke FIFA rules by entering the pitch before the ball crossed the line.
Marciniak responded by showing a screenshot of seven French players standing on the pitch as Kylian Mbappe netted his equalizing penalty later in the game. However, although he handled the big decisions of the game perfectly, he admitted that his performance was not entirely error-free.
Speaking to Polish media, he admitted that he would have done some things differently at the Lusail stadium, including letting a peculiar counter-attack from France continue. That said, he expressed his joy that he did not make a critical error in the historic encounter despite the difficulty of refereeing a match of this magnitude to perfection.
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He said: "Of course there were mistakes in this final. I interrupted the French counterattack after a bad tackle from Marcos Acuna.
"I was afraid that the fouled player wanted to relax, and I misread because nothing happened, and you could give an advantage and then come back with a card. That's is hard. In a game like this, I take a mistake so much in the dark. The important thing is that there were no big mistakes."
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Despite his outstanding performance in the World Cup final, the pinnacle of all referees, Marciniak remains grounded. He understands that the pressure will now be at its highest when he returns to his duties at club level.
"Of course, we also keep our feet on the ground," he added. "We know where our place is. We know that now the pressure will be even greater because it was like that when we were promoted to the top flight. If we go to the league after this World Cup final and 'we make a mistake, they'll say, 'The World Cup has been judged.'"
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