The 2021 Champions League Final referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz was interviewed in El Partidazo de la Cadena COPE and spoke about his relationship with footballers, such as Kylian Mbappe or Neymar, journalists, the WhatsApp referee group and even an offer he received to have a hair implant.
Star referee. “I am lucky to live isolated from the media. I live in a welcoming town, my neighbours know what I do and I live in absolute normality”.
Enjoying a great game. “Over the years I have succeeded by finding the emotional balance. I can tell you that I enjoy it today and every day more. I am privileged. Football entertains me and how it could not do it, as long as I am on the front line. You can enjoy a great match, but without losing responsibility”.
Mbappe and Neymar. “I always call him Kylian. He speaks and understands Spanish perfectly. In football, the master language is Spanish. Football lingo is understood by almost everyone. Neymar depends on anger; if he is doing well, I call him Ney and if not, Neymar. I usually call them by their names, because I have always done it, although in Regional it was more difficult for me”.
Protagonist of the matches. “I call fouls that for me are fouls and my teammates always help me where I can't reach. In my career, I never decided something only for pleasure. If I ever gave that impression, get it out of your head. As referees, all we want is to do our best work. Refereeing improves over the years, because experience is very important”.
Training. “I practically train every day. I do specific training for refereeing about two and a half hours a day at most. I make the schedule depending on the matches that I have. I adapt my pace to my work week. I do injury prevention and also take into account that we do not travel on charter flights and it is more difficult to balance training with recovery. I have a physio and a fitness trainer”.
Players. “There are no players that I do not like badly. There have been players who I have not understood. There are times when you understand that a player protests your decision because he has made a great effort, but at other times, when he does not agree with reality, you can only look him in the eye. Every game, every situation is different. In the end you try to forget what happened”.
WhatsApp referee group. “We have an account for all referees. It's a very formal group and if someone gets loose with a little joke, they don’t follow”.
Journalists. “I learn from many of you and there are situations in which you give me things to improve, get to know the environment and, if needed, change my tune. There are also journalists that I like less because they may not have my way of seeing things and they judge too much instead of giving their opinion. Obviously, I don’t like them, but the only thing I can do is not listening to them."
Mobile phone at half-time. “Before, yes, I always did it and I have never hidden it. Now, with the VAR, everything is reviewed and it is not necessary. The VAR is a very good tool for football and it helps us.”
Players asking for his shirt. “There are players who have asked me for it. We get a new shirt every two years. One with short sleeves and one with long sleeves, in each color. Sometimes, I had to wash it in a great hurry and put it in the dryer with fear that the advertising would break. There was a game where the mud wouldn’t go away from a shirt and I got a new long-sleeved yellow, but usually they only give us one of each color.”
Dialogue with the VAR. “I adapt to the colleagues. If my colleague likes feedback on the plays that are not crucial, I do it. I need the VAR to always give me his opinion on the plays and then there will be a filter that will be mine. I really like the help. Watching on TV cannot change your opinion of something you saw. They give their opinion, but you are the one who decide. When the VAR considers that an error has occurred you go to the screen, but you do it with an open mind; you will not be so stupid to make a mistake twice. We are all very clear that the VAR will not be able to solve everything and that there are very subjective situations in which we will always have to have an opinion. For us, it is a fundamental tool.”
His image. “I thought about putting hair on. I got an offer for an implant. They would pay me to put it on, but my children and my wife told me they like my looks.”
Source: Larazon
