Horacio Elizondo

Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (born November 4, 1963 in Quilmes ) is a former Argentine football referee .

After completing his sports studies, Elizondo began his referee work in the Argentine Primera División in 1992 . He made his international debut on October 9, 1994 in the international match between Ecuador and Colombia . Since then, the sports teacher has worked as a referee at the Copa Libertadores 2002 and 2005 , the Copa America 1997 and 1999 and the 2004 Summer Olympics .

He was part of the referee line-up at the 2006 World Cup in Germany and, in addition to the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica on June 9 in Munich, he led the matches between the Czech Republic and Ghana , South Korea and Switzerland, and the quarter-final between England and Portugal .

On July 9, 2006, he also chaired the final between Italy and France , making him the first referee to be called up for the opening and final matches of a World Cup. He is also the first Argentine to be used as a referee in the final of a World Cup. In overtime he showed the French Zinédine Zidane the red card after a headbutt against Marco Materazzi ; this was the first expulsion that was issued in the extension of a World Cup final. Elizondo had not seen the assault herself and only dismissed Zidane after the fourth official, Luis Medina Cantalejo Zidane. Shortly after the World Cup, he announced his resignation as a referee.

Honors

• World Referee of the Year 2006

Web links

• biografias.es: biography of Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IFFHS: Former Results. Retrieved July 5, 2018 .