19 May 2003, Ulevy Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden.

This is the venue for the UEFA Cup final.

The UEFA Cup final is indeed not as good as the Champions League final. The Champions League final will take place a week later at the Schalke Stadium in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. It was a well-known stadium in European football, home to Bundesliga side Schalke 04.

As a large stadium with a capacity of more than 60,000 people, the Schalke Stadium alone has 54,000 seats. It's a real stadium, and it's as good as the Champions League final.

But the Ulevi Stadium in Gothenburg is different.

Although the stadium is the home of the Swedish giants Gothenburg FC, the stadium is really not very good. The stadium has a capacity of less than 20,000 people, with only 16,500 people.

It has a history of nearly 100 years now, and although some repairs have been carried out in the middle, it is too old after all. The whole stadium can't compare to other stadiums.

"The Swedish club is not short of money, and it is not good to repair this broken stadium."

Jack looked at the referee's lounge, and the decoration inside was really not very good. The overall feeling is that secretly, I don't know why UEFA put the UEFA Cup final here.

Sweden's economy is really good in Europe, and although Swedish clubs are not as good as the strong teams in European football, they are definitely not short of money.

Even if you can't build a new stadium, you shouldn't be able to fix it.

But look at this broken stadium, and this broken referee's lounge.

"Jack, that's good. These clubs, while not short of money, are also not wealthy. Since the Bosman Act. None of these clubs have much money. ”

Mike. Riley laughed when he heard Jack's words.

The Boseman Act hit these teams hard. Even if they have money, they only have a little money. If there is no external funding. There is simply no way to build a new stadium, and it doesn't cost much money to repair these stadiums every year.

Jack nodded. Kind of agree with Mike. Riley's words.

The refereeing team of the UEFA Cup final, UEFA's refereeing committee, does not care. Once they had identified Jack as the referee, the selection of the referee team was entirely up to Jack.

From the assistant referee to the fourth referee, they are all selected from the English referees, and Jack can choose himself.

That's the power of the referee.

Once Jack has chosen, he will report to the English Football Referees Committee. The referee committee then handed over the list to the FA, which then passed it on to the UEFA referees committee.

In the end, the UEFA referee committee wrote an agreement, and then handed it to UEFA, and finally UEFA also wrote an agreement.

That's the process.

But in this process. Only two links are decisive. One is that Jack chooses his own referee team, and the other is the review of the UEFA referee committee. The refereeing committees of other English football, the FA, and UEFA are just going through the motions and don't really care about these things.

Even the UEFA referee committee will not reject the referee's own selection of referees under normal circumstances.

So in the end, basically as long as the referee chooses, there will be no change.

There can be several finals like this. Even a referee like Jack can only officiate such a game once in his life. In other words, after Jack officiated this time the League Cup final, he never had the opportunity to officiate the League Cup final again.

It is precisely because of this that Jack brings all his friends. Of course, such opportunities should be shared with their own people.

The two assistant referees chosen by Jack were Michael. Muraki and Brett. Vaughn. The two of them are assistant referees who have worked with Jack for many years.

And the fourth referee, Jack, originally wanted to let Webb come over. But in the end, after a brief conversation with him. but did not choose him. Webb and Jack came to the Premier League together, and Webber was better than Jack in the Premier League. In the Premier League, Webb appears more frequently than Jack.

But in the international competition, Webber is far inferior to Jack.

The two are good friends. It always doesn't feel right to have him as the fourth referee. After all, it was Weber who brought Jack back then and asked him to be the fourth referee, which always felt that something was wrong. So Jack's last choice was Mike. Riley. Mike. Riley was pleased. Because he never had the opportunity to officiate a UEFA Cup final as a referee in his life. It's also a qualification to come in as the fourth referee.

"Jack, are you nervous?"

Mike. Riley saw that Jack hadn't sat down. Instead, he stood there, so he gently patted Jack on the back.

Jack shook his head. said with a smile: "It's not my first time officiating the competition, and I've enforced the final many times, so what's there to be nervous about." I'm thinking about what to expect in this game. ”

Jack has officiated in various finals, not once or twice.

To date, Jack has officiated the Charity Shield, the League Cup final, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Confederations Cup final. Although none of their finals are as valuable as the UEFA Cup finals, they are all finals.

Jack has plenty of experience in the finals to not be too nervous.

Jack was thinking about what would happen in this game. Before the game, think about everything that can be present, which is something you have to do as a referee.

"Don't think too much. Too much of yourself will be confused. ”

"Yes."

…………

The final of the League Cup was once called the three major European cups along with the Champions Cup and the Winners' Cup.

The three major cups of the year really complemented each other, and the gold content was not low. Those giants won any of the three major cups that year, which is a very worthy achievement.

However, since the reform of the Champions League in 92, the influence of the Champions League has become more and more influential. The Cup Winners' Cup and the League Cup are simply not comparable to the Champions League, and the influence of their two major cups is getting worse and worse. In the end, the Cup Winners' Cup and the League Cup had to be merged to become the current League Cup.

In other words, from a historical point of view, the ancestors of the League Cup are also wider.

Although it is declining now, it is also a very important event in European football. Therefore, there are a lot of guests in this game. Not to mention the owners of the clubs on both sides, even the senior management of the football associations of France and Spain, as well as football legends, came to the scene.

Of course, there is no shortage of good UEFA executives. Including UEFA boss Johansson. They all came to the scene to watch the game.

It can be said that everyone who can come to the scene came.

La Liga newcomer Valencia will compete for the UEFA Cup title at the Ulevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden, and Marseille. The first match in the history of the UEFA Cup was played in Spain, in the history of the UEFA Cup. La Liga teams have won the title 11 times. Wallen, on the other hand, won the championship in 1961-1962 and 1962-1963. After 41 years, Valen is expected to win the trophy again and prove that he is already one of the best teams in Europe. ”

"Marseille have been doing extremely well this season. After winning Ligue 1 in 1992 and the European Champions Cup the following year, Marseille were denied the trophy after being hit by match-fixing. The 43-year-old head coach who was promoted from the club's youth team sees the UEFA Cup final as the starting point for a revival. In the knockout round of the League Cup, he eliminated Liverpool and Inter Milan one after another and entered the final of the League Cup. ”

Before the start of the game, the commentators have already begun to review the history of the UEFA Cup. Anyway, it's show time, and it's necessary to brag first.

"The referee of this match is a young referee from England, Jack Brown. Referee Lee. This is Jack. Referee Lee follows the 2002 UEFA Super Cup. After last summer's Confederations Cup final, another accolade. Take his law enforcement career to the next level. The most surprising thing is Jack. Judge Li is not yet 30 years old. ”

This is the final.

Those who were able to participate in the finals were all stars. To be able to reach the Champions League final and the UEFA Cup final, the club's managers are all stars. As long as they can make it to these finals, the manager will be sought after.

And the players needless to say.

Players are at the heart of football. As long as the results are good, the players will always be the center. Those who can perform well in the finals will soar to the sky.

But football isn't just about them.

The same is true for referees. Ordinary referees officiate ordinary matches, capable referees officiate important matches, and top referees officiate those finals. Every referee who can officiate this kind of final will leave his name in football.

Just look at the referee before the game when the commentator introduces the referee.

Jack was very happy when he came in.

This time only the League Cup final was enforced. In the future, I will be able to speak loudly in European football. I don't think anyone will ever talk about Jack's qualifications anymore. Because he was the referee of the League Cup final.

Jack looked at Valencia's young coach Rafael Benitez on the sidelines.

This is no ordinary person either.

If Jose Mourinho, who led Porto to the Champions League final, is currently the most popular manager among the young coaches, then Carlo Ancelotti is the most famous and the most successful among the young coaches.

Benitez in front of him is not well-known, but he is a master tactician who is very recognized in the industry.

In recent years, young young marshals have kept coming up.

In addition to them, there is also Monaco coach Didier Deschamps, who has already reached the Champions League final. Mancini who is currently in Serie A. They are all young marshals with very good grades.

'There were a few surprises in Valencia's starting line-up, as their midfield stalwart Aymar didn't start. I don't know what Coach Benitez means. However, Valencia were hailed as the second of the millennium around the new millennium, and they reached the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons. But he failed twice. I believe that they must get rid of such a fate this time. ”

Although Marseille eliminated Liverpool and Inter Milan in the League Cup in a row, the attention is still not as good as Valencia.

Anyway, Valencia are the new La Liga champions this season. Giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona have been suppressed.

Jack stood in the middle of the court, looking at his watch and checking the time with the fourth referee. The time of two people needs to be unified. It's almost time. Jack and the fourth referee check the table at the same time, and then set the time at the same time.

"Doodoo-"

Jack finally blew the whistle for the start of the game. (To be continued......)