How was your 25 minutes being the match referee?
This was my first experience of being an international referee (smiles). By the 25th minute, one of the referees had already arrived at the match and waved to me from the sidelines, asking if I wanted to be replaced, but I asked him for another five minutes, just before the water break, because it was hot today. It was quite exciting to do it, I spoke to the players and told them to respect each other. I think overall the match was an interesting one against a good opponent. They played with two squads, and we deliberately let our team play longer, some 90 minutes, some 60 minutes, some just until half-time. It was important to finish the first training camp in high spirits and I think we’ve trained very well and successfully.
There’s been a few comments about your referring style, as they say, you let them play today.
I think the best referee is not seen, they’re invisible. I wanted to let them play so the guys could feel some intensity in a friendly match. We have had a lot of league games like this, where the referee does not blow for everything. Of course, if a player was out of order I would call it, But I tried not to blow the whistle and let everyone play football.
