UEFA Europa League Final 2010
Atletico Madrid v Fulham
When Liverpool sagged to let Diego Forlan net and send Atletico Madrid into the Europa League final, it was a mini-victory for the competition. An Anglo-Spanish final sounds more, well, continental than a re-run of a Premier League game.
English clubs might flash the cash but we don’t want an all-any nation European final any more than a Chelsea v Man U Champions League final every season. Contrasting styles is what European cups should be about. A bit sad for ‘Pool, whose fans could have followed in the footsteps of the Beatles on the Reeperbahn of that great German port city.
Perhaps the Europa League is just a punch diluted so much it lacks the satta king kick of the old UEFA Cup, as lukewarm as the lineup for the old Cup Winners’ Cup, a collection of Champions League rejects and former European greats like Marseille, Anderlecht, Benfica and Panathanaikos.
If we can forget the languorous saga of that 18-game odyssey the teams took to the final, the meagre winnings and overall feeling of second prize compared to the mighty Champions League, the meeting of big-ish Atletico and little Fulham has a lot to recommend it.
World Cup 2010 Referees and Assistants.
The 30 referees and their assistants for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa have been chosen. There are 4 referees and their assistants from Africa, 4 from CONCACAF, 6 from South America, 2 from Oceania, 4 from Asia and 10 from UEFA.
Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)
William Torres, Francisco Zumba
Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)
Hassan Kamranifar (Iran), Saleh Mohamed Al Marzouqi (UAE)
Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)
Ruiz Roa, Nicolas Yegros
Benito Archundia (Mexico)
Hector Vegara (Canada), Marvin Torrentera
Hector Baldassi (Argentina)
Ricardo Casas, Herman Maidana
Carlos Batres (Guatemala)
Leonel Leal (Costa Rica), Carlos Pastrana (Honduras)
Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)
Nasser Abdel Nabi (Egypt), Maamer Chabane
Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)
Jose Manuel Silva Cardinal, Bertino Miranda
Massimo Bussaca (Switzerland)
Matthias Arnet, Francesco Buragina
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