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Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (born November 4 ,1963, in Quilmes) is an Argentine international football referee. He refereed the final of the 2006 World Cup.

Background

Elizondo completed studies in physical education, and started refereeing after finishing the AFA course. His debut in the Argentine first division was in the Deportivo Español vs. Belgrano de Córdoba match in 1992. He was named international in 1994, and directed his first international match on October 9 1994 between Ecuador and Colombia for the 1998 World Cup qualifications.

2006 FIFA World Cup

Elizondo was appointed to represent Argentina in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, together with country fellow assistants Darío García and Rodolfo Otero. He officiated three group games: Germany-Costa Rica, Czech Republic-Ghana, and Switzerland-South Korea. He also took charge of the England-Portugal quarterfinal, as well as the final game between Italy and France, becoming the first referee in World Cup history to referee both the first and last games of one World Cup. He handed out a total of 22 cards in the tournament, two of which were red, for an average of 5.5 cards per game.

Germany vs. Costa Rica

Elizondo took charge of the opening game of the tournament between Germany and Costa Rica, which Germany won 4-2. Elizondo handed out only one yellow card, to Costa Rica’s Danny Fonseca. The match had a total of 22 fouls and 6 offsides, both statistics split evenly between the two teams. FIFA's president of the World cup organizing committee Lennart Johansson praised Elizondo performance at the match, saying "I also saw this referee in the opening match and I did not notice him much which is a very good thing."

Czech Republic vs. Ghana

His following match, the Czech Republic 0-2 Ghana group game, was slightly more contentious. In the 66th minute he gave a straight red card to Czech player Tomáš Ujfaluši for a professional foul in the box, awarding a penalty to Ghana. He then gave a yellow card to Asamoah Gyan when he took the penalty kick prematurely. Gyan missed his second attempt.

Elizondo also booked Czech player Vratislav Lokvenc and Ghanaian players Otto Addo, Michael Essien, Derek Boateng and Sulley Muntari, for a total of seven cards. He called 12 fouls against the Czech Republic and 20 against Ghana. He further ruled the Czechs offside 6 times and Ghanaians 9 times.

Switzerland vs. South Korea

Elizondo was also the referee in the Switzerland 2-0 Korea group game. Elizondo handed out nine yellow cards and no red cards during the match. He booked five Swiss players: Philippe Senderos, Hakan Yakin, Raphael Wicky, Christoph Spycher and Johan Djourou. The four Koreans to pick up cards were: Park Chu-Young, Kim Jin-Kyu, Choi Jin-Cheul and Lee Chun-Soo. Elizondo called 7 fouls against Switzerland and 19 against South Korea. There were a total of six offsides calls, split evenly between the two teams.

He awarded the Swiss a controversial goal overruling the assistant referee Rodolfo Otero's raised offside flag. Several players, including two defenders, Kim Jin-Kyu and Choi Jin-Cheul, who were following Alexander Frei stopped playing when they saw the flag, expecting it to be accompanied by the referee's whistle. However no whistle was blown that would have signaled halt in the game. The ball was put into the path of Alexander Frei after being hit by Lee Ho's foot. According to some commentators and media, Lee Ho's action was not a mere deflection but an intentional move, what would make the offside void, supporting Elizondo's decision. However, the official FIFA rules indicate that the offside decision was supposed to be given, even if Lee Ho's actions were adjudged to have been an accidental deflection. Korean players and staff protested against the decisions by the referee, and Korea's coach Dick Advocaat was livid to the point that he had to be cautioned twice by the referee. A few days later, though, Advocaat relented and agreed that the decision to allow Switzerland's second goal was correct. Elizondo's decisions have caused anger among Koreans, many of whom sent e-mails of protest to the official FIFA website. FIFA decided to take the strong step of blocking Korean Internet access to its website due to the too many protest e-mails from Korea. FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozola said "FIFA's new media department detected this organized attack coming from Korea and, basically, had to block the messages from Korea to fifa.com to protect the Web site". In addition, many Koreans have left negative comments on the website of the Swiss embassy in Korea, and one man has been arrested for threatening to bomb the Swiss embassy in Seoul.

England vs. Portugal

Elizondo was the referee in the England 0-0 Portugal quarter-final, which Portugal won 3-1 on penalties. Elizondo gave yellow cards to Ricardo Carvalho and Petit of Portugal and to Owen Hargreaves and John Terry of England, as well as a straight red card to England's Wayne Rooney, for a total of 5 cards. Elizondo called 18 fouls on England and 10 on Portugal, found Portugal offsides 3 times and England none.

In the 62nd minute, Elizondo sent off Rooney after he appeared to stamp on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho and then pushed Cristiano Ronaldo after the whistle had been blown. Elizondo later confirmed that it was the kick on Carvalho that led to the red card. Outside England, Elizondo and Rooney's red card has not been an issue, however Wayne Rooney has said he was “gobsmacked” by the decision and believes that the red card was unjustified, claiming that he had been trying to keep his balance and was not aware of Carvalho. The English Football Association has supported Rooney, while England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson deferred to Elizondo's decision, saying "I went to the referee to speak and he was 100 percent sure it was a red card. He told me he hit the other player and where he was hit so I can't complain about that."

Although there has been much debate over the call in England, articles in Scandinavian and German papers after the game put the blame on Rooney, agreeing with the referee. FIFA requested an explanation from Rooney regarding his conduct during the game; this is standard practice when the referee reports violent conduct. Rooney received a two match ban and was fined 5,000 Swiss francs for the incident. . FIFA could have banned him for up to five games.

World Cup Final

Elizondo was the referee for the Final of the tournament, between France and Italy. . The final took place in Berlin on July 9. He awarded France a controversial penalty after Florent Malouda went down in the box under limited contact from Marco Materazzi. In the 53rd minute, Frace had a strong claim for another penalty turned down after Malouda once again went down in the box, this time after a challenge from Gianluca Zambrotta. Elizondo gave Zinedine Zidane a red card after he headbutted Marco Materazzi in the chest in the 110th minute. The call was considered controversial because he himself did not see it, and he went to consult with the assistant referees about it, who many people think saw it as a replay on the screen, and not themselves.

Other Competitions

Among the several international competitions in which he participated are the Copa América of 1997 and 1999), the U-17 World Cup of 1997 and 2005, the U-20 World Youth Championships of 2003 and 2005, the Olympic Games of 2004, and the FIFA Club World Championship of 2000. In the latter, he showed a red card to David Beckham in the tie between Manchester United and Necaxa.

He also refereed in the final matches of the 2002 and 2005 Copa Libertadores de América. In the 2005 tournament the two Brazilian finalist teams São Paulo FC and Atlético Paranaense lobbied Conmebol to have Elizondo as the main referee.

In the annual world referee ranking of the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), Elizondo was positioned 5th in 2001, and 12th in 2005.

Statistics

Event	Games
Copa Libertadores 2006	2	9	0	2
CONMEBOL 2006 WC qualifiers	9	28	0	1
World Cup 2006	4	20	0	2
Total	13	54	0	5

References

1. FIFA - 'Horacio Elizondo: “Referees need to be clinical'". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
2. Prensa Latina - "Elizondo representará al arbitraje argentino". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
3. – “Germany-Costa Rica ESPN Match Report.”
4. – “Argentine ref Elizondo gets World Cup final”
5. – “Ghana 2-0 Czech Republic ESPN Match Report”
6. - "Switzerland 2-0 South Korea ESPN Match Report"
7. "Suiza venció a Corea del Sur y se clasificó" - Clarín Template:Es icon
8. "Switzerland 2 South Korea 0" - Professional Footballers Association
9. Gaining advantage - Offside Offence - Page 12
10. "World-South Korea take credit after controversial exit" - Reuters
11. "FIFA blocks e-mails from South Korea". Associated Press. 2006-06-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. S. Korean man booked for threatening to blow up Swiss Embassy
13. – “England 0-0 Portugal ESPN Match Report”
14. "England 0-0 Portugal". BBC. 2006-07-01. Retrieved 2006-07-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. Simon Fudge (2006-07-04). "Elizondo clears Ronaldo". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2006-07-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. "Rooney insists he didn't deserve red card". Fox Sports. 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2006-07-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. "FA respond over Rooney red card". Fox Sports. 2006-08-04. Retrieved 2006-08-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
18. "Sven: Don't kill off Rooney". Sky Sports. 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2006-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. "Red card Rooney gets two-match ban". CNN. 2006-08-02. Retrieved 2006-08-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. "Elizondo chosen as Cup final ref". BBC. 2006-07-06. Retrieved 2006-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. CONMEBOL - "Horacio Elizondo: 'Es vital para el réferi conocer bien a sus colaboradores'". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
22. BBC news - "Beckham off in Man Utd epic". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
23. RSSSF - "IFFHS' World's Best Referee of the Year 1987-2004". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
24. IFFHS - "The World's best Referee 2005". Last accessed on June 1 2006.

External links

• Profile on ratetheref.net

• Football (soccer) referees
• 1963 births
• Living people
• Argentine football referees
• People from Buenos Aires Province
• Spanish-Argentines
• FIFA World Cup 2006 referees