This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gadig (talk | contribs) at 21:06, 23 June 2006 (Revert to revision 60233386 dated 2006-06-23 21:01:12 by 209.19.232.25 using popups). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 21:06, 23 June 2006 by Gadig (talk | contribs) (Revert to revision 60233386 dated 2006-06-23 21:01:12 by 209.19.232.25 using popups)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (born November 4 ,1963, in Quilmes) is an Argentine international football referee.
2006 Fifa World Cup
He was appointed to represent Argentina in the
, together with country fellow assistants Darío García and Rodolfo Otero, to referee the opening game of the tournament between Germany and Costa Rica.
In quite possibly the worst decision in World Cup history when he was the referee in the Switzerland - Korea game, he awarded the Swiss a goal even though the linesman raised the offside flag. Korea at the time was losing 1-0 and needed a win to advance to the next round, but his blunder sealed Korea's fate. Needless to say, Korean coach Dick Advocaat was livid to the point that he had to be restrained.
Background
Elizondo completed studies in physical education, and started refereeing after finishing the AFA course. His debute in the Argentine first division was in the Deportivo Español-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.
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 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 13 | 45 | 0 | 4 |
References
- Prensa Latina - "Elizondo representará al arbitraje argentino". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
- FIFA - 'Horacio Elizondo: “Referees need to be clinical'". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
- CONMEBOL - "Horacio Elizondo: 'Es vital para el réferi conocer bien a sus colaboradores'". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
- BBC news - "Beckham off in Man Utd epic". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
- RSSSF - "IFFHS' World's Best Referee of the Year 1987-2004". Last accessed on June 1 2006.
- IFFHS - "The World's best Referee 2005". Last accessed on June 1 2006.