June 22, 2002, 3 p.m. KST.

Gwangju, South Korea.

It is the place where the famous Gwangju Incident took place in Korean history. This is Jack's third game of this World Cup, and three consecutive games have been played at the stadium in South Korea.

Jack thinks that he has a good relationship with South Korea in this World Cup.

Now it's even more fateful. Because the game I have to blow is the match between the Korean national team and the Spanish national team.

"It's a pretty high temperature today."

Jack inspects everything on the pitch to see if anything is wrong. You can feel the heat on the pitch, although it is not as high as the 35 degrees Celsius in Brazil and Turkey, but today it is 28 degrees Celsius.

Twenty-eight degrees, which is definitely not a good weather for the race.

Speaking of about seventeen or eight degrees, it is the most suitable weather for the race. But the first two World Cup games that Jack has officiated in were very hot. The temperature is above 30 degrees.

"Yes, it's hot."

Standing next to Jack was a Trinidad and Tobago referee named Lagunas. The two assistant referees who partnered with Jack were the referee from Trinidad and Tobago in front of him, and the other assistant referee was a referee from Mexico.

Anyway, they are all referees from very small countries.

"South Korea and Spain have hit."

South Korea and Spain played extra time in the quarter-finals. The South Korean team relied on Ahn Jung-hwan's golden goal in extra time to make Italy die suddenly. Spain, on the other hand, played a penalty shootout to eliminate Ireland.

Two teams that already have a very high physical exertion. It's definitely not easy to play in such temperatures.

Damp heat.

Jack isn't very used to the weather here in South Korea and Japan. Because the weather is obviously humid in the air. And then the temperature was still very high. After the first two games, Jack could feel sweating all over his body. The clothes were completely soaked with sweat.

Jack is one of the most physical players in the refereeing industry. At the time of enforcement in the Premier League. The pace of the game is more than the World Cup. But I didn't feel that tired.

"Great - Republic of Korea!! Greater - Republic of Korea!! ”

There is still some time to go, but the Korean fans are already starting to cheer their team on in a rhythmic way. Looking up, it's red, and it's a sea of Korean fans.

In this World Cup, this kind of organization of Korean fans has also opened the eyes of many people.

The same goes for Jack.

Jack has always believed that England fans are the best and craziest fans in the world. But in this World Cup, Jack admired the discipline shown by the fans of the host South Korean team, and of course the Japanese team.

"Let's go in and get ready."

There is still a little time left for the game. Jack, as the referee, is not good to continue here.

"The players on both sides are ready. This is the World Cup Stadium in Gwangju, South Korea, and the upcoming match is the quarter-knockout round of this World Cup. The match was played between South Korea and Spain, the hosts of this World Cup. ”

"The last four of the World Cup have already come out with two teams. In yesterday's match, Brazil beat England 2-1 and Germany beat the United States 1-0. Ronaldinho was sent off in yesterday's game, which was considered harsh and controversial. ”

There are too many controversies in this World Cup, so every commentator can't help but comment on the referee's performance.

"John. There are too many misjudgments in this World Cup. ”

The England commentator for the game was Mortenson, and his partner was the famous anti-Ferguson figure Alain. Hansen. The two are old partners, and they have also said a few games in this World Cup.

"yes. Since the group stage, this World Cup has been full of misjudgments. Let's talk about the game of the host team of South Korea, the host of this World Cup. They were full of controversy along the way. Start with the group stage and the match in the United States. to the match against Portugal and the match against Italy in the quarter-knockout round. Every game is controversial. ”

Mortenson also nodded.

There is too much controversy in the game, although it can add a lot of topics. But for football, the damage is very high. Although the 98 World Cup, there is not necessarily less controversy.

But it's definitely not as good as this World Cup. All kinds of controversies in this World Cup. It should be the most World Cup after World War II.

"There will be a lot of pressure on the referees to enforce this game. After all, all eyes are on this game. ”

"Yes. Jack is only twenty-six years old, but he has to enforce such a high-profile game. It was a great test for him. ”

Mortensen and Jack have partnered many times, and the two have also worked together many times in this World Cup. So the relationship between the two is very good, and they are also a little worried about Jack's law enforcement in this game.

"Jack. Referee Lee's first two games were still outstanding. Although there was some controversy in the match between Brazil and Turkey, there were no mistakes overall. If I were to evaluate the referee's score so far, I would think Jack. Referee Li is able to be at the top. ”

"Definitely. I think Jack's score should be even higher than Corina's. ”

"Yes."

The two men said this, and then did not go on. The World Cup Disciplinary Committee will score the World Cup referees internally, and Jack's score is indeed higher than Collina's. The reason for Collina's low score was that he made a mistake when he was deceived by Owen's fake fall during the match between Argentina and England.

And this penalty directly decided the victory or defeat of Argentina and England. This kind of misjudgment has a great impact on the judge's score.

But Morteson and Alain. Hansen is very smart. I know that I'm going to talk about Owen's fake fall. Owen faked the fall, how could the two of them say it. And it was a victory over Argentina, an old enemy.

"If Jack succeeds in officiating this game, then Jack will become the only referee in the Premier League to officiate three times in a World Cup. He is also the only referee to have officiated in the quarter-knockout and quarter-elimination matches of the World Cup. For twenty-six-year-old Jack. It's a big honor. ”

England has been knocked home.

Mortenson and Alain. Hansen also doesn't have much of a nature. This has always been the case with a football powerhouse like England.

Just like the current BBC, when there is an English game. The ratings are very high. It can be said that when the World Cup was broadcast, the ratings in England surpassed everything else. No other program can compare to the World Cup ratings.

But once England comes home early, the ratings will plummet. Not by a few percentage points, but by tens of percentage points, or even by more than half.

Let's take a simple example.

If when England was still there, the World Cup ratings were simply marked as one hundred by numbers, then after England was eliminated, the ratings were thirty or forty. Unless it's a final, the ratings are estimated to be above fifty.

That's what England fans are.

At a time when England couldn't make it to the World Series, the ratings of that year's World Series in England. It's simply miserable. This is true not only for England, but for many other football powers.

On the contrary, some countries with weak football, they have a wide range of interests. As long as there are world powerhouses, then the ratings will not drop.

Mortenson and Alain. The same goes for Hansen.

England had gone home, and they were not in high spirits as commentators. However, in this game, they are still very interested in commenting. Because there is no England national team, isn't there still an England referee to officiate the game?

"The two sides have already chosen the venue. The Spanish national team is missing their most dangerous player in this game. Raul was injured in the last game and is now on the bench. said his injuries were not optimistic. ”

Raul compares a little back.

In the last game, he was still quite good. But he was injured at the last moment. Failed to start the game for the sake of insurance. This still has a great impact on the current Spanish national team.

Jack looked at the players on both sides, then at his watch, and waited for the time to come.

"Doodoo-"

The referee blew the whistle and the match between Spain and the host South Korea officially began. Jack. Referee Lee also started his journey for the third game of this World Cup. ”

Of course, it was the English narrator who introduced Jack specifically.

Except for the English commentators, though. There was also a national commentator who also gave a detailed account of Jack after the game began. That is CCTV's Huang Jianxiang.

Why?

Because Jack is Chinese, this is generally the case with domestic sports programs. If in a sport. Seeing that a Chinese has achieved good results, the CCTV commentators will introduce it well.

"Audience friends. The referee officiating the game was a British-Chinese, Jack. Referee Lee. He is the youngest referee at this World Cup. He is also the youngest referee in the history of the World Cup. Jack. Referee Lee is a legendary referee in the English refereeing world. Just six years after being qualified as a referee, he became a Premier League referee at the age of 24, the youngest top-flight referee in England's history. At the age of 25, he became an international referee, and at the age of 26, he became a World Cup referee. ”

"But his arrival at the World Cup is legendary. Originally, the two World Cup referees recommended by the English Football Association were Graham. Pol and Dermot. Gallagher referee. However, Gallagher referee was not physically fit in the final exam, so Jack. Referee Li temporarily replaced Gallagher and became the referee of this World Cup. ”

"But no one could have imagined that he would not only officiate the group stage of Brazil and Turkey, but also the eighth-elimination of Germany and Paraguay. Now he has officiated in the quarter-finals between Spain and South Korea. Judging by his first two games in charge, he was at a high level. In a tournament that has been so controversial, there were no serious miscalculations in his game. ”

"It's a very young referee and a very promising referee."

By this time, Jack, a young referee, had indeed received a lot of attention. After all, a young referee like Jack is rare, and even less so in the World Cup.

In the current situation of frequent referee errors, such an important game as Jack's enforcement is even more attention-grabbing.

However, Jack on the scene was already focused on this game. (To be continued......)