Reuters Soccer Blog

A referee gets mobbed — for being good!

Around the world referees are forever criticised by fans, players, managers and the media but an Uzbekistan official has managed to buck the trend, receiving an unusually warm welcome after being named Asian Football Confederation (AFC) referee of the year.

Fans at Tashkent airport blew horns and trumpets to celebrate the return of Ravshan Irmatov, a candidate to referee at next year’s World Cup, after he won the award for a second successive year.

“I am overwhelmed by this reception. I am thankful to all those who came to greet me,” Irmatov said. “I have seen this kind of reception only for the players and this is unprecedented in Uzbekistan. I hope I will fulfill their expectations.”

In bizarre scenes, fans were jostling through crowds to try to shake hands with Irmatov, who was returning from Kuala Lumpur where he collected his award on Tuesday.

“He made Uzbekistan proud for the second consecutive year and I hope he will continue to fly our flag in the years to come,” excited fan Ulugbek Salimov said

Whatever next? Manchester United boss and frequent referee critic Alex Ferguson treating match officials to fine glasses of wine after games or Serena Williams praising line judges for good calls?

from Raw Japan:

Japan coach Okada too bubbly?

As expected, Japan booked their place in next year’s World Cup soccer finals with two games to spare, sparking wild celebrations after a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan on Saturday.

Perhaps he had celebrated too much on the flight back from Tashkent, but less than 24 hours later Japan coach Takeshi Okada was talking about reaching the World Cup semi-finals in South Africa. It is hard to imagine Spain's Vicente del Bosque or England's Fabio Capello losing much sleep.

The Japanese have had a bit of a bee in their bonnet ever since South Korea stole their thunder by becoming the first Asian side to reach the last four in 2002, when the two countries co-hosted the tournament.

An embarrassing flop at the 2006 finals in Germany under Brazilian coach Zico stung even more – so much so that Japan’s best player Hidetoshi Nakata lay sobbing on the pitch after their last match and promptly quit the game. Japan have done little since to suggest they are on the verge of breaking into the world’s top four.

Okada is no Guus Hiddink, who masterminded South Korea’s remarkable run to the 2002 semi-finals.

Asia’s allotment of four automatic World Cup berths, with a possible fifth via a playoff, means the likes of Japan, South Korea and Australia can hardly fail to qualify.

It is what happens once they get there that counts and only South Korea – and plucky North Korea in England at the 1966 finals – have made any real impact on the world’s biggest tournament thus far.