German referees Felix Zwayer and Daniel Siebert attended the Media Day for Euro 2024, where they shared their thoughts.
Zwayer: "The tension was high. We knew in advance when the referee team would be announced, but everyone who made it was only invited to the video call five minutes before 10 o'clock. You then wait and constantly check your emails. Of course, you hope that you'll be allowed to be there - but when the time really comes, it's something else. Managing (international) top matches was never a goal for me when I started out. I was simply interested and found the task of refereeing exciting, and then it always developed further. I kept taking steps forwards, but also backwards at times. You must draw the right conclusions from the less enjoyable moments and stick to your guns. In the end, anything goes if you are prepared to adapt to new developments in football. We worked on this together; without my assistants this nomination would not have been possible. Stefan Lupp has been nominated for a major tournament for the fifth time and that says it all. Marco Achmüller fought his way back from injury, which was impressive. All Euro referees form a team, where Daniel and I, together with our assistants and the three video assistants, represent German refereeing. We each referee our own games, but we still stick together as referees".
Siebert: "My way of refereeing matches and my performances have led me to where I am now. It would be wrong to suddenly change everything before the tournament. My coach as a player always told me: 'You shouldn't do anything special before special matches'. That applies well to refereeing. Every Euro match is great. In the team with Jan and Rafael, we are simply grateful to be part of this Euro and will approach the tournament with anticipation and humility. I just want to do my best and referee the games I get in the best possible way. During my first Euro, I had an experienced colleague, Felix Brych, at my side, which helped me a lot".
Source: SkySport