Argentina and France met in the grand final of the World Cup in Qatar. The judges were Szymon Marchiniak and his assistants Tomasz Listkevich and Pavel Sokolnitsky. Both confessed in an interview to Polsat News what it means to them to play in a match of such rank and spoke about life in the shadow of Marciniak.
Szymon Marchiniak is the first Pole in history to be the chief referee of a World Cup final. Legendary judges - Pierluigi Collina and Howard Webb highly appreciated the attitude of the Polish judges.
It was the best refereeing job in the history of the World Championships. I’m so proud! Simon was fantastic. But the whole panel of judges deserved a storm of applause, - said the Englishman.
In turn, the Italian, in an interview with Zbigniew Boniek on the Pravda Football program with Roman Kolton, said that Szymon Marchiniak was better than technique and made incredibly accurate decisions. “Today, Marciniak is the second most important Pole after the Pope,” Collina said after the meeting.
Tomasz Listkiewicz and Pavel Sokolnicki: It’s like climbing Everest
Szymon Marciniak’s assistants, Tomasz Listkiewicz and Pavel Sokolnicki, told Polsat News that after the official ceremony, the head of the FIFA referees hugged everyone. In addition, the Italian stressed that this match was beautiful from a football point of view, but difficult to referee. “He joked that he was afraid before the match, and after it ended, he was very happy,” Listkevich said.
Marciniak’s aides also said that leading the World Cup final was a professional dream come true for them. “It’s like climbing Everest,” he admitted.
Listkevich and Sokolnitsky about life in the shadow of Marciniak
Listkevich and Sokolnitsky were also asked if they were jealous of the fact that they lived daily in the shadow of Szymon Marciniak. Both explicitly denied and admitted that they consciously made this choice - to work as an assistant. “We are doing our job, and it is enough for us if we sometimes warm ourselves with the glory of Shimon,” Listkevich laughed.
Source: Wprost
