10 July,2010 06:31 AM IST | | AFP
The wife of World Cup final referee Howard Webb said yesterday she was amazed her husband was taking charge of the most important game in football given how he struggles to keep control of their children.
Webb, who is now a full-time referee having previously been a police sergeant, will be the man in the middle when the Netherlands face Spain in the World Cup final in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Englishman Howard Webb who will referee Sunday's World Cup final. pic/AFP
The 38-year-old from Rotherham, northern England, will be the first Englishman to take charge of the showpiece match since Jack Taylor refereed the 1974 World Cup final between West Germany and the Netherlands. Kay Webb, in an interview with Britain's GMTV television programme, said her husband's refereeing career was a source of mystification given his difficulties controlling son Jack and daughters Holly and Lucy.
"I don't know how he does it," Mrs Webb said.u00a0 "He can't take charge of his own children. I don't know how he manages it on a football pitch." Webb began refereeing as a teenager, having been encouraged by his father Billy who was himself a referee. "It's in my blood," Billy Webb, a former miner, told GMTV. "I encouraged my son to take it up. But when I watched his first game, I encouraged him to pack up. The whole thing is jaw-dropping. I just can't imagine my son reffing the World Cup final."
Spain unhappy over howard
FIFA's choice of Englishman Howard Webb to take charge of Sunday's World Cup final has reportedly irked Spain as he was the man in charge of their opening loss to Switzerland. "Bad news ufffd Webb will referee the final," trumpeted sports daily Marca, while AS sports daily described the choice of Webb as "debatable", as he had "made two mistakes" which saw Spain go down 0-1 to the Swiss in their WC opener. Marca said it would thus be a "challenge" to take the trophy back to Spain for the first time. Webb brings "bad memories for La Roja," noted sports daily Mundo Deportivo.
