He's not that old at all, but he looks as if he could be some players' dad, which can't be a bad thing for a ref. Who would you listen to: someone's dad or a guy trying hard to look tough (like Blom)?
reading up on the old reports I realized this match must have been really easy, Atkinson does make mistakes when tried.
I never get to see South American matches but I was wondering what is left of the teams over there when even their lesser players (even the nobodies) move to teams like Dinamo Zagreb.