People are raising some eyebrows at this.
It’s set to be England’s biggest game since… well, their last game against Germany. Southgate’s side take on Ukraine on Saturday evening in Rome for a place in the semi-finals of Euro 2020, and go into the game as heavy favourites.
However some are a little bit suspicious of the officiating line up for the match, with all but one of the match officials for the game being German.
The referee, both the assistant referees, the video assistant referee and all three of the assistant video assistant referees (who knew they were a thing?) are all from Deutschland. The only non-German official for the match is Carlos del Cerro Grande, the Spanish fourth official.
Let’s not panic too much here though. On paper it looks a tad sus, but the careers of referees rest on the fact that they are unbiased in every match they officiate.
These are also some of the best officials in Europe, so it would be surprising if they put their careers on the line just because they were still a bit glum about Germany going out to England in the last round.
@RefereeHalsey gives his view on Uefa’s appointment of German referee Felix Brych for England’s quarter-final with Ukraine… pic.twitter.com/ljqNhWjej1
— Phil Cadden (@pjcadden) July 1, 2021
Not sure that will mean much to England fans in bars and pubs across the country on Saturday night if Mr Brych gives a dodgy call against England…
