©
FIFA has announced the referees for FIFA World Cup™ matches 53 and 54. France-Nigeria in the Round of 16 will be officiated by Mark Geiger. For the 39-year-old American, it will be his third match in this competition after Colombia-Greece and Spain-Chile. Geiger has been an international referee since 2008 and he oversaw the finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2011 and the CONCACAF U-20 Championship that same year. In 2012, he was in charge of two matches at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament and in 2013, he refereed at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Sandro Ricci, 39 and from Brazil, will oversee the Germany-Algeria. The referee from the host country has already officiated France-Honduras and Germany-Ghana at this tournament. In his career so far, he has been in charge of four matches at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2013 and two at the FIFA Club World Cup of the same year, including the final between Bayern Munich and Raja Casablanca.
Sandro Ricci, 39 and from Brazil, will oversee the Germany-Algeria. The referee from the host country has already officiated France-Honduras and Germany-Ghana at this tournament. In his career so far, he has been in charge of four matches at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2013 and two at the FIFA Club World Cup of the same year, including the final between Bayern Munich and Raja Casablanca.
Karim Benzema believes France are in for another thorough examination of their qualities against Nigeria in the Round of 16, after their rugged encounter with Ecuador.
Les Bleus had been free-scoring in their opening two games of the FIFA World Cup™ but had to settle for a 0-0 draw against Ecuador, a result that also guaranteed top spot in the group for Didier Deschamps' side.
Benzema had three goals before the match but missed a number chances to keep pace with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Thomas Muller as the leading scorers at the tournament so far. The Real Madrid striker insisted, however, that was not important and that the French team must now focus on their next challenge.
"We have qualified, so one must be happy about that," said Benzema. "It was a tough, tough match, and although we had a lot of success in front of goal in our previous games this time we came across a team who caused up problems on a physical level.
"We had some good chances to score, we had opportunities but we came across a keeper who played out of his skin.
"Now we have to rest, recover and get 100 per cent ready for the knock-out match against Nigeria, who are a good, strong team, but we must do everything to win."
No comments:
Post a Comment