A German referee once banned for match-fixing has been appointed to make his FIFA World Cup debut in the Socceroos’ clash with the United States — and he might just have a tough task keeping the two physical sides in check.
Both nations enter the Group D fixture on a high following victories in their opening fixtures, and the victor on Friday in Seattle (Saturday AEST) will be in the box seat to progress to the knockout rounds on top.
Tensions have continued to simmer off the pitch with American pundits writing off Australia but players on both sides have played down the talk.
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Things could change once the match gets underway, though, after the US claimed a feisty 2-1 win over a physical Socceroos outfit last October that saw Trinidad and Tobago referee Kwinsi Williams attempt to break up the players.
“They’re lucky it was a friendly. I was ready to go,” American Chris Richards said of the Socceroos as he called out the ref for ‘losing his handle of the game’.
“If (the ref) didn’t give me a s*** yellow in the corner, I probably would’ve killed somebody.”
US coach Mauricio Pochettino baked his side at half-time with star striker Haji Wright reflecting on that match this week as he admitted the Americans and Australians are much more alike than people are willing to admit.
“I remember going to half-time, the coach wasn’t too happy with us letting them punch us in a way without punching back,” Wright said.
“I don’t think they take it too far. I think they’re aggressive and they’re competitive.
“They’re a lot like us actually — they’re not going to back down to anybody and we’ll respect that in the game coming, but I don’t think we’ll back down to them.”
The Socceroos friendly also left a lasting impression on American Tim Weah: “That experience was fun. It was aggressive. I think from that game, we’ve changed a lot. We’ve gotten a bit more aggressive as well.”
Now the stage is set and a World Cup debutant with a dramatic past will be responsible for maintaining order.
German referee Felix Zwayer, 45, has been appointed by FIFA to be assisted by countrymen Robert Kempter and Christian Dietz, with Mexican pair Katia Garcia (fourth official) and Sandra Ramirez (reserve assistant) rounding out the crew.
Zwayer has reached the pinnacle after serving a six-month ban in 2005 for accepting a €300 ($A500) bribe from another official to favour one club during a May 2004 match in Germany.
Zwayer bounced back to become a German Bundesliga referee but his past has still remained a talking point, referenced unfavourably by England star Jude Bellingham during his time with Borussia Dortmund.
“You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game,” Bellingham said after a defeat to Bayern Munich in 2021.
“You give a referee, that has match-fixed before, the biggest game in Germany. What do you expect?”
Zwayer has since been backed by UEFA to officiate a Euro 2024 semi-final between the Netherlands and England and the 2025 Europa League final won by Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham against Manchester United.
Such is his standing today Zwayer was the only German match referee called up by FIFA for the World Cup.
Aside from three red cards being handed out in the opening game few refereeing controversies have disrupted World Cup matches so far, with VAR much less prominent than in the A-League and English Premier League.
Meanwhile, US midfielder Sebastian Berhalter lifted the lid further on Weah’s view that they’ve only become more aggressive since their last meeting with the Socceroos.
“We’re American. We don’t take s***,” Berhalter said on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST).
“I think that’s something that (Pochettino) really put in. Even though he’s Argentinian, he has that mindset of, like ‘look, this is what we do, and this is who we are and this is what America is about.’
“He really drilled that into us and I think that’s something that has helped us this last cycle.”
Berhalter praised the Socceroos for being up for the fight.
“We like teams that have that brotherhood, you know? We like teams that you can see they’re hungry, they want to fight,” he said.
Weah said the punditry talk is “nonsense”.
“When you look at the Australian team, they are a young team that have a lot of fight, a lot of grit and a lot of hunger, just like us,” he said.
“So we respect them in the same way that we would respect any other opponent.
“I don’t know what the media is trying to do, but we’re not really focused on that.”
For a second consecutive day US captain Christian Pulisic trained away from his teammates and he has been described as a day-to-day proposition as he deals with a left calf injury.
Pulisic was withdrawn from the co-host’s opening 4-1 win over Paraguay at half-time.
“To me, he’s looked as he always has,” Weah said.
“He looks normal, he looks fit. He took a little bit of a knock, so he’s been with the trainers on the side, but I think he’ll be ready for the game.
“I’m just praying to God that he’ll be 100 per cent fit because he’ll be needed.”
