Luis Medina Cantalejo

Luis Medina Cantalejo (left)

Luis Medina Cantalejo (born March 1, 1964 in Seville , Spain ) is a Spanish football referee. He is an international since 2002, FIFA - football referee .

Life

Cantalejo, who is a sports expert in his main job, was used in three Champions League games in addition to a few UEFA Cup games up to the 2004/2005 season . In the following season he again received three games of the highest UEFA competition and was commissioned with some qualifying games, including the relegation game Australia - Uruguay, for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In the 2005/06 season he led the final of the Copa del Rey in Spain. In his home country he is next to Manuel Mejuto González as the best referee, so that he and his assistants Victoriano Giraldez Carrasco and Pedro Medina Hernandez were appointed to the World Cup, initially only as a representative, after González was eliminated as one of 21 game directors .

His greatest success at European level up to now was the 2004 U21 European Championship in Germany . Here he directed the final between Italy and Serbia and Montenegro .

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he whistled the matches between Germany and Poland on June 14, 2006, the Netherlands against Argentina (0-0) and the round of 16 between Italy and Australia . In the match Italy - Australia he caused a sensation with a controversial penalty whistle for Italy - the latest in World Cup history, a few seconds before the end of the game, but according to experts ( Urs Meier ) justifiable. The penalty resulted in the goal for Italy and the elimination of Australia.

Cantalejo was one of the 12 referees who remained in the tournament after the round of 16. He then led the quarter-finals between Brazil and France (0: 1).

In the final of the 2006 World Cup between Italy and France, he was used as the fourth official . In the 110th minutes, he told the referee Horacio Elizondo ( Argentina ), a head butt by Zinedine Zidane on Marco Materazzi to have noticed. Zidane then saw the red card . After the game, both coaches, Marcello Lippi (Italy) and Raymond Domenech (France), reported that Cantalejo had only seen the assault on a TV. The use of video evidence - which is so irregular in football - was officially contradicted after the game by Cantalejo and FIFA.

Cantalejo led the final of the 2008/2009 UEFA Cup between Shakhtar Donetsk and Werder Bremen on May 20, 2009 in Istanbul (2-1 aet). He was supported by his compatriots Jesús Calvo Guadamuro and Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar on the lines and Alfonso Perez Burrul as fourth official.

Web links

• Profile at weltfussball.de
• Cantalejo directs UEFA Cup final