WTF ??? WHY ? WHAT ACCOMPLISHMENT HAS HE MADE ? I don't know a single match where he did a good job . He created only controversies not just at this world cup but in past and Seria A as well ... and Italian to ref Germany vs Argentina match ? It is like letting Austrian referee to ref Italy vs Germany match .

Ravshan Imratov should have been referee ! Best referee of the two past tournaments . I did not have a single complaint when he referees .

How exactly does that compare to the Austrian referee in Italy vs Germany game? Rizzoli is a good referee if you ask me, and he's always fair to both teams. I have no complains.

wait and see...

I always thought that the referee should be the best ref of the tournament or someone from a neutral continent. That way everything is fair...but then again, watching the Japanese referee, I'll take that neutral continent away...

@manche

A lot of immigrants in Argentina are descendants of spaniards and italians ( especially Messi ) . Basically bros . Same way Austria is with Germans , same nation but different countries . It should have been someone neutral and it should have been someone who had best record prior to this final . Ravshan Irmatov fits the best !

Should have been Bjorn Kuipers.

ashwin1729, exactly. I have always thought the same thing. The best referees are usually the ones that are obscure and not always in the public eye. Unlike that cretin Howard Webb.

@Marcus:
he directed the CL final in 2013 already. please make a list of all the controversies Rizzoli has created btw, we all wish there was another Collina, but unfortunately there isn't.

@ManchesterutI
50% of Argentinians are Italians. Demichelis, Campagnaro, Mascherano, Biglia, Lavezzi and Messi are all Italian Argentine. like Zanetti.

Judge him after the game.

The refs this WC have been quite dumb, Rizzoli actually is one of the few decent ones in my opinion. Yeah he does made some wrong calls, but I would rather have him or Web than the rest

@Shpalman

So with that logic, USA vs Mexico game cant be refereed by an European referee because half of US team has European decedent? Even in Italy, I lived in Milano for 3 years and I never heard Argentinians are our bros. The only city that this might be applicable is Napoli (Maradona, what a surprise) and the Parma fans when literally the entire team was Argentinian back in the 90s. Sorry, but I find that to be a stupid reason on why Rizzoli shouldn't be the ref of this game. I really think he's a good ref and I think he'll unbiased tomorrow. We'll see I guess.

Totally agree, half of the Argentinian team has double nationality Argentian/Italian, it's ridiculous.
He was already biased against Belgium!
@manchesterutI, what you said is stupid, the referee of Mexico-USA never meet any USA players...In this case, this referee had experiences in Serie A with half of the Argentinian team...

@Manchester

no i didn't mean that Rizzoli can't be the ref, i just confirmed what Marcus said about the analogy with Austrians. i need to say that the bond is less strong when compared with Argentinians, as Austria also sits next to Germany on the map and there's a continuous relationship between the two countries, which basically share the same culture and language. not the same when it comes to Italy and Argentina. just because in Naples they adore Maradona doesn't mean that's the only city where you can see connection with Argentina; take away Maradona and no connection is left. it's curious tho', you lived in Milan and you didn't name the biggest example of Argentinian connection we have in Italy, FC Inter. that'd be a more fitting example than Naples and even Parma. about being "bros", Argentinians surely are, but i'm sure Rizzoli will be neutral. certainly better than what we saw yesterday in Bra-Ned.