England u21 2 - 0 Serbia u21
Euro 2007 u21 group stage · 2007-06-17 Referee: Knut Kircher

Stylish

Yes

The way he dealt with the (almost) fight that broke out after England scored their second goal was great. He had a short pow-wow with his assistants, booked two players, one from each team and warned the Serbian assistant coach who had tried to stop the fight. Asssitant coaches are not allowed on the field. The Serbians thought the English should have stopped the game because Rajkovic was lying in the box, making off-side impossible. Stopping the match is the referee's decision and Kircher decided not to because Rajkovic had slipped and hurt himself. Anyone can do that and keep the other team from attacking.

Yes

Huddlestone, a player who looks anything but a football player said something bad to the assistant referee who called Kircher. The German referee red carded the England sider. Huddlestone had just entered the field and hadn't touched the ball yet. It was the way Kircher did this: easy, taking his time, very stylish.

No

But Kircher is also a bad referee. He showed Tosic a yellow card and awarded him a free kick at the same time. He didn't book Nigel Reo-Coker (I love that name) for a very bad foul and made some more little mistakes. And this time, unlike his last match Netherlands-Portugal, going for the ball in the box wasn't a penalty. You just don't know with the German.

Reo-Coker

Going for the ball at the same time as Nigel Reo-Coker will have you lying on the floor on no time: running into him must feel like running into a SUV. But the fact that the other player alway falls doesn't mean it is always Reo-Coker's foul. According to Kircher it was.

(After the match the English FA lodged a formal complaint against the Serbians. Both fans as well as some players made racist remarks at English players Hoyt and especially Nedum Onuoha, who had a hard time playing, as a defender, not far from the Serbian fans)

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