Bio
Luis Medina Cantalejo
Born: 1964-03-01
Intl. since: 2002-01-01
Hometown: Tomares (Sevilla)
Country: Spain
Speaks: Spanish, English
Occupation: Civil employee
Hobbies: Music, literature, sports, nature, travelling

Refereeing runs in the family of Medina Cantalejo, Luis' father and grandfather were also referees. When young Luis Medina Cantalejo was a football player in the Spanish third division, and when playing took too much of the time he needed to study, he decided to change to refereeing as well.
His first Primera Division match was in 1998.

He was an Elite Category referee and retired internationally in 2009.

Final

He had his debut in the Primera Division in 1998 and his first international match in 2002. Internationally a first really important match was the final in the under 21 World Championships in Germany 2004 (two red cards for Serbia Montenegro). Then he until he joined the team of referees for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. He officiated four matches, the last one being the quarter final between France and Brazil. But the match he will be remembered by is the one between Italy and Australia. Medina Cantalejo awarded a penalty to Italy in the last minute, kicking Australia out of the tournament.

final(ly)

And then, finally at the end of a his career, a real final: the one of the 2009 UEFA Cup.
Medina Cantalejo, who in many people's eyes yet had to recover from the 2006 World Cup, got to show the world why he is a premier elite referee.

out with a bang

And the UEFA Cup final became his last international match. Medina Cantalejo announced his retirement July 2009.

Did you know
THIRD GENERATION

  • Two incidents might haunt Medina Cantalejo's carreer for a while, one not even an incident and the other probably not true:
  • 1 Medina Cantalejo sent off David Beckham twice. A fact that might not sound important if Beckham wasn't such a celebrity with a clean record who was never sent off before he met the Spanish referee.
  • 2 in 2004 it was alleged that he booked an Austrian player twice but forgot to send him off during a Champions League qualifier between Liverpool and Graz.
    Reporters and Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez were convinced Medina Cantaljo showed two yellow cards to Graz AK captain Rene Aufhauser in the 68th and 78th minutes. But Cantalejo denied it. According to the Spanish ref it was Aufhauser's team-mate Gernot Sick who had received the first caution.
    Liverpool went on to win the cup a few months later.
  • Medina Cantalejo has a personal trainer and trains 6 days a week. He watches matches on video and studies the players but he also studies his own movements and expressions on video.
  • His worst experience was when he had to stop a match between Barcelona and Real Madrid after 12 minutes because a supporter threw a pig's head at Madrid's Luis Figo.
Statistics
Statistics for LUIS MEDINA CANTALEJO
Totals Home Away Total
Penalties 9 7 16
Fouls 0 0 0
Yellow 143 160 303
YellowRed 0 0 0
Red 5 16 21
Averages Home Away Total
Penalties 0.15 0.12 0.14
Fouls 0 0 0
Yellow 2.42 2.71 2.57
YellowRed 0 0 0
Red 0.08 0.27 0.18

Based on 59 international matches

Matches
MATCHES FOR LUIS MEDINA CANTALEJO
Date Score Yellow Red Penalties Fouls
UEFA Cup 2008 - 2009
finalShakhtarWerder Bremen2009-05-202 - 1 7 (3-4)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Champions League 2008-2009
1/4 finalsChelsea F.C.Liverpool2009-04-144 - 4 6 (4-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
1st knockoutInternazionaleManchester United2009-02-240 - 0 6 (4-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageSteauaFiorentina2008-12-100 - 1 9 (7-2)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageAS RomaChelsea F.C.2008-11-043 - 1 3 (1-2)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageDynamo KyivArsenal2008-09-171 - 1 5 (4-1)0 (0-0)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
qualifiers 3rd roundArtmedia PetrzalkaJuventus2008-08-261 - 1 3 (2-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
WC 2010 qualifiers - Europe
GreeceSwitzerland2008-10-151 - 2 4 (2-2)0 (0-0)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
UEFA Cup 2007 - 2008
1/4 finalsPSVFiorentina2008-04-100 - 2 3 (1-2)0 (0-0)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
Champions League 2007-2008
1st knockoutLyonManchester United2008-02-201 - 1 4 (3-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageBesiktasMarseille2007-11-282 - 1 7 (2-5)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageAC MilanShakhtar2007-10-244 - 1 5 (2-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageFenerbahce SKInternazionale2007-09-191 - 0 6 (3-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
qualifiers 3rd roundSparta PragueArsenal2007-08-150 - 2 5 (2-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Euro 2008 qualifiers
RussiaEngland2007-10-172 - 1 4 (2-2)0 (0-0)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
NetherlandsBulgaria2007-09-082 - 0 2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
FranceUkraine2007-06-022 - 0 2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
GermanyIreland2006-09-021 - 0 6 (3-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Champions League 2006-2007
1st knockoutManchester UnitedLille OSC2007-03-071 - 0 6 (2-4)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageBayern MunichInternazionale2006-12-051 - 1 2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageAnderlechtAC Milan2006-10-170 - 1 4 (1-3)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageLiverpoolGalatasaray2006-09-273 - 2 4 (2-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
qualifiers 3rd roundSpartak MoskvaLiberec2006-08-232 - 1 7 (3-4)1 (0-1)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
WC 2006
1/4 finalsBrazilFrance2006-07-010 - 1 7 (4-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
round of 16ItalyAustralia2006-06-261 - 0 6 (3-3)1 (1-0)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
group stageNetherlandsArgentina2006-06-210 - 0 5 (3-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageGermanyPoland2006-06-141 - 0 7 (3-4)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
UEFA Cup 2005 - 2006
1/4 finalsSteauaRapid Bucuresti2006-04-060 - 0 4 (1-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
round of 16MarseilleZenit2006-03-090 - 1 8 (4-4)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
WC 2006 play-offs
2nd legAustraliaUruguay2005-11-161 - 0 9 (4-5)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Champions League 2005-2006
group stageSchalke 04Fenerbahce SK2005-11-012 - 0 5 (1-4)2 (0-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageAjaxArsenal2005-09-271 - 2 6 (4-2)0 (0-0)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
group stageClub BruggeJuventus2005-09-141 - 2 5 (1-4)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
qualifiers 3rd roundManchester UnitedDebrecen2005-08-093 - 0 4 (1-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
WC 2006 qualifiers - Europe
EnglandAustria2005-10-081 - 0 6 (3-3)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
SloveniaNorway2005-09-032 - 3 8 (3-5)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
RomaniaNetherlands2005-03-260 - 2 3 (2-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
TurkeyGeorgia2004-09-041 - 1 9 (5-4)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
WC 2005 u20
3rd placeBrazil u20Morocco u202005-07-022 - 1 9 (3-6)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageTurkey u20Ukraine u202005-06-172 - 2 9 (5-4)1 (0-1)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
group stageBrazil u20Nigeria u202005-06-120 - 0 7 (2-5)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageBenin u20Australia u202005-06-101 - 1 3 (3-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
UEFA Cup 2004 - 2005
1/4 finalsCSKA MoskvaAuxerre2005-04-074 - 0 5 (2-3)1 (0-1)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
Champions League 2004-2005
1st knockoutPSVMonaco2005-02-221 - 0 2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageBayern MunichMaccabi Tel Aviv2004-11-235 - 1 0 (0-0)0 (0-0)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
group stageArsenalPanathinaikos2004-11-021 - 1 4 (1-3)0 (0-0)2 (1-1)0 (0-0)
qualifiers 3rd roundLiverpoolGAK2004-08-240 - 1 8 (2-6)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Euro 2004 u21
finalItaly u21Serbia and Montenegro u212004-06-083 - 0 7 (4-3)2 (0-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageGermany u21Sweden u212004-05-301 - 2 4 (2-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
group stageSerbia and Montenegro u21Croatia u212004-05-273 - 2 3 (1-2)0 (0-0)1 (1-0)0 (0-0)
Unknown
Germany u21Sweden u212004-05-302 - 1 6 (2-4)2 (0-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
UEFA Cup 2003 - 2004
3rd roundSochauxInternazionale2004-02-262 - 2 5 (1-4)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
2nd roundAS RomaHajduk2003-11-061 - 0 2 (1-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Champions League 2003-2004
group stageAnderlechtBayern Munich2003-09-301 - 1 5 (2-3)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
qualifiers 3rd roundAustria WienMarseille2003-08-130 - 1 2 (0-2)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Euro 2004 u21 qualifiers
Scotland u21Germany u212003-06-062 - 2 5 (4-1)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)
Serbia and Montenegro u21Finland u212002-10-153 - 3 7 (3-4)1 (1-0)2 (1-1)0 (0-0)
UEFA Cup 2002 - 2003
1st roundSartid SmederevoIpswich2002-10-030 - 1 4 (2-2)0 (0-0)1 (0-1)0 (0-0)
qualifiersShamrock RoversDjurgården2002-08-151 - 3 4 (4-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)0 (0-0)