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Ian Darke on the US Fox broadcast said if Schar didn’t have a yellow already, he probably would have got one there. Which I don’t like at all as a method of refereeing……

Again, off-topic-what a brilliant shot by Saka. He’s such a great player to watch-easily one of my favorites.

To be fair, probably a good thing that was a goal by Embolo. Had it not been a goal, it very likely could have been a DOGSO red and a penalty for the Trippier hold/pull.

I’m firmly convinced that if Taylor had given a penalty, social media would be in an uproar with the exact opposite argument they are making now. Simply put, social media automatically assumes English referees are wrong.

Off topic from refereeing, but England looks a lot more attacking minded in this setup. Good initial adjustment by Southgate to match Switzerland’s three at the back.

Admittedly not as intense and chaotic as the first game today, but overall I felt Oliver managed things very well. Players seemed to respect him. It probably did help him that Fernandes was (inexplicably) subbed out in the second half.

Thought the same thing. My 15-year-old son watching with me clearly corrected me saying it was a headband. I'm so old . . .

Absolutely agree on Orsato for the final unless things go very sideways. As for teams, I'm going out on a limb a little and will say Spain (OK, not going out on a limb) vs Switzerland (that's my out on a limb pick) with Spain winning. Sorry to my England friends and colleagues, but Saturday's...

I say this as someone who is a big fan of Michael Oliver. A team like Portugal with Fernandes, Ronaldo, and Pepe is a big challenge for any referee. Oliver's always really calm and measured on the field, but I feel like you need an "a$$-chewing" mode when dealing with guys like those three...

If the Chellini play on Saka in the last Euro final wasn't a straight red (but honestly I thought that one was), this one wasn't a straight red in my opinion (and wasn't even in a vacuum without any context). Rob Green on the US broadcast summed it up well as you did - Carvajal knew he was...

Given how UEFA often interprets handling, I have to admit I'm surprised Taylor was not called to the monitor. Now I'm not overly upset that's not handling, but just surprised given UEFA often has a rather strict interpretation of handling.

Definitely missed a caution on the Kroos foul (or didn't decide to give one because "it's still early"). The second one is probably also one, but less obvious than the first one for me. Pedri subbed off, and I am curious to see how that impacts Taylor's match management. I get it's a major...

Genuine question from an American-in Europe, how “conservative” are you in terms of stopping games because of lightning like what happened in Dortmund? (Conservative=being very safe). I’ll say that in the US, we are generally very conservative in this approach. If we see any lightning or hear...

Generally speaking, I follow this procedure for tossing the coin. Ask the captains if there are any questions Show both sides of the coin (I try to have a coin with two colors so I can say "red" and "gold" or "black" and "gray" instead of heads or tails) Unless it's really windy (which happens...

You must have HATED it when we shipped Piers Morgan back to you then!! :D:p

Christina Unkel. She’s a former US FIFA referee, and she still works college games in the US. She’s married to a current MLS and former FIFA referee. They met for the first time working a match together. She’s an excellent communicator. Her day job is a trial attorney, so she comes by her...

I've also seen at least two other referees point to the ground like this more than a few times in their games. I'm hoping this isn't the case, but I wonder if this is something UEFA is teaching. And if it is, I'm not a fan.

Whether it's right or wrong, the general practice that unless it's 100% absolutely not a challenge/attempt to play the ball, the referees are going to issue a caution. I also agree that UEFA will support a caution in this case.

I dont disagree with @RustyRef that Turpin isn't going to get a great score. I get he's an international-level official and the expectations are really high at that level. I've already discussed the reasons why I believe he missed the red card/PK. The penalty area line decision is harder. First...

I mentioned on a US-based forum that one of my favorite things to watch in officiating is Clement Turpin give his "I am not amused by your feeble attempts to embellish" expressions (example below, but I prefer his "smirk"). I remember his first Euros in 2016 when he looked like a deer in...