18 December,2022 09:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Ashwin Ferro
Szymon Marciniak
Poland's Szymon Marciniak, 41, who has been picked to officiate in Sunday's World Cup final between Argentina and France is nervously excited. "I hope I sleep well. It's a very proud feeling," said Marciniak, who made his World Cup debut four years ago. Marciniak has already overseen matches involving both the finalists here, having officiated in Argentina's Last 16 win over Australia and France's group-stage victory against Denmark. So, he knows exactly what to expect. "Both [Argentina and France] have fantastic players, who can do anything at any time. That's why, as a referee, you have to be focused from the very first moment till the last. It could go into extra-time or even penalties so you have to be ready for everything. It will be a fast game as we have seen throughout the tournament because this World Cup is being held in the middle of the season unlike previous editions, where it was at the end of the season. So, the players are fresh and eager to do well. It's a final and obviously no team will want to lose, so I expect them to start cautiously, but I cannot relax for even a second," he signed off.
URUGUAY striker Diego Forlan was at his skilful best as he netted a fine hat-trick to help the South American Panthers beat the Northern Bears 5-3 in the final of the Legends Cup at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Friday night. The eight-team, two-day, six-a-side competition saw a host of former World Cup stars like Iker Casillas, Cafu, Kaka, Roberto Carlos, Francesco Totti, Jens Lehmann, Javier Zanetti, Jurgen Klinsmann, Mikael Silvestre, Marco Materazzi, Wesley Sneijder, among others have a kickabout and there was no shortage of fun despite some intense moments. Like when a female player, unintentionally nutmegged Silvestre and the former French defender re-tackled and won the ball back only to return the favour to the lady at the other end. Italian World Cup-winning defender Materazzi - infamous for his altercation with French legend Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final - refused to accept that another female player was successfully tackling him - so he simply pushed her to the ground. Dutch star Sneijder though took the cake when he somehow found space in a small field to lob the ball over six-foot-four former German goalkeeper Lehman for a sweet strike. FIFA president Gianni Infantino also swapped his formal suit for a jersey and shorts, and even scored off a Materazzi pass, though it seemed like the goalkeeper deliberately let one through to make the big boss happy.
Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2022: Resellers of final tickets on non-FIFA platforms have a field day in Qatar
THE re-selling of World Cup match tickets without the approval of FIFA is prohibited and punishable with a fine of up to 250,000 Qatari riyals (R55 lakh approximately). However, this still hasn't deterred ticket touts, but instead only made them more watchful. During the first semi-final between Argentina and Croatia at the Lusail Stadium recently, this correspondent saw one such tout offering tickets in black. The black market rate for a World Cup final match ticket is reportedly anywhere between USD 5000 to USD 10000 (Rs four to eight lakh). A group of Argentina fans, who have flown in specially for Sunday's final against France, have reportedly written to FIFA to help them procure tickets for the final at official rates.
