He was also fourth official for England’s meeting with Algeria in Group C and the USA-Ghana round of 16 match. He sat down with oceaniafootball.com for a chat soon after returning to Auckland.
What was is like to be the man in the middle for the Korea Republic vs Greece game?
It was quite surreal. Everything at the World Cup seems to be bigger, brighter and faster. I had the natural range of emotions leading up to the match but part of a referee’s preparation is that you always treat it as 11 vs 11 – there is one ball, 17 rules and 22 players. If you can take that approach into every match it helps keep it all in perspective. It wasn’t until afterwards that we could appreciate the significance of what we’d done and how special the moment was.
How did you find your World Cup experience in general?
It was magical really – it’s everything you think it is from what you see on TV. To some degree, the referees were removed from a lot of the hype because we were based in a resort just outside Pretoria. That was purposely done so we didn’t get embroiled in all the head-hunting and theatre that goes with the World Cup. But we still got to sample a bit of that World Cup spirit. When we travelled from Pretoria to Port Elizabeth for our first match we were in the arrivals hall and there were a lot of Greek and Korean supporters there waiting for their luggage. They were all waving flags, cheering and taking photos of each other.
What is the difference between refereeing at amateur and World Cup levels?
The players will tolerate a lot more physicality. They’re more gifted athletes so their ability to ride tackles and maintain their balance is better than your average Sunday league player. You can be more patient about blowing for fouls – with an amateur game you have to be a little sharper on the whistle. It’s also a lot faster because the players are just so well prepared. You have to fully concentrate throughout the match because things happen so quickly.
How does acting as fourth official compare to being the main referee at a World Cup?
It can be quite demanding because you have 23 people on each bench. That’s 46 people to control, plus you need to support the referee by looking after things that happen behind his back. You also have to worry about substitutions, time-keeping and making sure records are kept accurately. So in some ways it’s a more demanding role than being out in the middle.
What is your view on the use of technology to help referees?
As referees we would like to get every decision right. So whatever can be done to help us achieve that would be excellent. If that means more officials, then great. Or if it means more cameras or a video referee, that’s fine too. But as a spectator, my only concern is what it would do to the game. If we were to review all the contentious decisions there would be a lot because it’s not just the ones that coaches and players want, it’s the ones that we want as well. A lot of the intensity towards the referee is based around subjective decisions, ones where technology can’t help. It’s not whether it’s a goal or no goal, or a corner or no corner. It’s whether this tackle was careless, reckless or excessive. Howard Webb gave 15 cards in the World Cup final and I think very few of them could’ve been helped by technology.
What about goal-line technology to see whether a goal has been scored?
Technology can help there but that only happened once in the entire World Cup. In the English Premier League last season it happened ten times out of nearly 400 games. If they were to use technology to eliminate those mistakes, it would cost a lot of money to put enough cameras into each stadium. Maybe that money would be better off going into player development or grassroots. The English Premier League has been trialling hawk eye for the goals. They can afford to do it, they have enough money. But the national league in Finland, which also has a qualification spot for the Champions League, probably can’t afford it. Can you have one team that qualifies out of a league that has technology playing one that doesn’t? Where do you draw the line? For referees, I think goal-line technology would be great because it would be good to eliminate the debate over whether it’s a goal or no goal. But it actually doesn’t happen that often, it’s very rare.
Are you aiming to go to the next FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014?
That is my goal but refereeing is a fickle life because, in order to get the experience and time on the pitch, you have to invest quite a lot of effort and time. And by the time you actually get to that elite level you’re at a pretty vulnerable age. At 38, I’m probably right at the peak of my physical prowess and trying to sustain that for another four years is going to be a real challenge. So I’m probably not looking beyond the next World Cup. But from there I imagine I’ll take the inevitable step into other refereeing roles like assessment, mentoring and coaching. I already do some of that but only at a junior level.
What’s next for you? Will it be hard to motivate yourself for domestic games again after appearing on the world’s biggest stage?
The NZFC starts in November and that’s the bread and butter for me, that’s where I have to earn my stripes. I’m looking forward to making a full contribution to that. I’ll take a couple of months off and start getting ready in October. The NZFC and other domestic competitions were all part of the success so if I want to do it again it’s pretty crucial that I deliver there first – it’s where I cut my teeth and learned all the things I applied at the World Cup.
Do you think the Oceania region is capable of producing more world-class referees?
The programmes that New Zealand Football and OFC are starting to put in place give us every chance of identifying and developing world-class talent. Referees are special individuals as we all know but it doesn’t really matter where you come from. If you’ve got the attributes then you can apply those anywhere. The increasing quality of football in this area is also making it easier to develop as an official because referee and player development go hand-in-hand. The NZFC is starting to produce some players that are going on to bigger and better things. The access to the A-League for referees helps and the O-League is making a difference because everyone is picking up their game for that competition. So there’s a good recipe for success.