Wednesday 9 June 2010

Some Observations From England’s Final Friendly Before 2010 World Cup

The following observations are from a friendly match between England and local South African side Platinum Stars on Monday 7 June 2010.

Although only a friendly, it was still interesting to see how the referee Jeff Selogilwe performed, and the way he handled celebrity players. No doubt, all World Cup match officials will have been watching the various friendly matches as part of their final preparations.


[Colour clash. The Platinum Stars goalkeeper is wearing a yellow shirt and black shorts, which is similar to the match officials.]


[Kick off. Referee Jeff Selogilwe signals the start of the match.]


[England's Jermain Defoe slots the ball past the referee goalkeeper. Pic courtesy Reuters.]


[Positioning. During a penalty kick, the referee stands amongst the England players.]


[The referee cautions England's Wayne Rooney, after Rooney says "F@# You" to him.]


[Referee Jeff Selogilwe comes face to face with his favourite player Wayne Rooney. Pic courtesy Michael Regan/Getty Images]


For his performance, the referee Jeff Selogilwe received Wayne Rooney's shirt. The referee publicly warned Rooney that he risked being sent off if he used similar foul and abusive language in the World Cup.

Rooney's England and Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand, who is out of the World Cup through injury, responded by saying: "I'm sure [Wayne Rooney has] said a lot worse to other referees in Premier League games."

No doubt Ferdinand is correct!!

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