 International referee Kim Young-ju remarked that, ¡°I still have dreams of being the head referee at the World Cup final round.¡± To Kim, the Brazil-Turkey match that took place at Ulsan on the 3rd was not merely the 55th A match. It was his debut as a referee of the World Cup games, the first Korean to be a head referee at the World Cup games. There were two assistant referees before, but this is the first time a Korean was named the head referee.
Kim prepared for the Brazil-Turkey match like any other game. On the 2nd, he warmed up for an hour at the smaller stadium next to Munsu Stadium and practiced the gestures he has to use for the game. In order to ensure he will be in the best possible shape for running during the game, he received a massage. He then polished his whistle, which has been the exact same one he has used for the 15 years of 1,000 or so games that he has judged. He next went over the different playing styles of Brazil and Turkey in his head to ensure a smooth game.
When he was selected as head referee for the games early this year, he began to ¡®practice¡¯ the tendencies of all 32 countries. Brazil is good at sudden spurts of speed. Turkey, like that of European teams, plays strong and focus must be placed on settling down players who get excited easily. As both teams were the top in the Group C, he had to be careful so as not to cause any objections in his judgments.
At the age of retirement for FIFA referees, this may be the ¡®A match retirement game¡¯. Kim says, ¡°FIFA will announce the head referees for the following games next week. My last wish is to be referee at the Yokohama stadium on the 30th (when the final game takes place).¡±
(From Ulsan, Sung Jin-hyuk, jhsung@chosun.com )
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