1. Horacio Marcelo Elizondo was born on November 4,1963 and is an Argentine former international football referee best known for his officiation throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
19 Facts About Horacio Elizondo
1. 2.
Horacio Elizondo completed studies in physical education, and started refereeing after finishing the AFA course.
3.
Horacio Elizondo was named international in 1994, and directed his first international match on October 9,1996, between Ecuador and Colombia for the 1998 World Cup qualifications.
4.
Horacio Elizondo refereed in the final matches of the 2002 and 2005 Copa Libertadores de America.
5.
Horacio Elizondo was appointed to represent Argentina in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, together with fellow assistants Dario Garcia and Rodolfo Otero.
6.
Horacio Elizondo officiated three group games: Germany vs Costa Rica, Czech Republic vs Ghana, and Switzerland vs South Korea.
7.
Horacio Elizondo took charge of the England vs Portugal quarterfinal, as well as the final game between Italy and France, becoming the first referee in World Cup history to referee both the opening and final games of one World Cup, a feat later matched by compatriot Nestor Pitana in the 2018 edition.
8.
Horacio Elizondo handed out a total of 29 cards in the tournament, three of which were red, for an average of 5.8 cards per game.
9.
Horacio Elizondo handed out one yellow card to Costa Rica's Danny Fonseca.
10.
Horacio Elizondo then gave a yellow card to Asamoah Gyan when he took the penalty kick prematurely.
11.
Horacio Elizondo booked Czech player Vratislav Lokvenc and Ghanaian players Otto Addo, Michael Essien, Derek Boateng and Sulley Muntari, for a total of seven cards.
12.
Horacio Elizondo called 12 fouls against the Czech Republic and 20 against Ghana.
13.
Horacio Elizondo further ruled the Czechs offside 6 times and Ghanaians 9 times.
14.
Horacio Elizondo called 7 fouls against Switzerland and 19 against South Korea.
15.
Horacio Elizondo awarded the Swiss a goal when he overruled the assistant referee Rodolfo Otero's raised offside flag.
16.
Horacio Elizondo gave yellow cards to Ricardo Carvalho and Petit of Portugal and to Owen Hargreaves and John Terry of England, as well as a straight red card to England's Wayne Rooney after he stood on Ricardo Carvalho's groin, for a total of 5 cards.
17.
Horacio Elizondo called 18 fouls on England and 10 on Portugal, found Portugal offsides 3 times and England none.
18.
Horacio Elizondo awarded France a penalty after Florent Malouda went down in the box under contact from Marco Materazzi.
19.
Horacio Elizondo gave Zinedine Zidane a red card after he headbutted in the chest Marco Materazzi in the 111th minute after consulting fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo via headset.