Portuguese Antonio Garrido (1932-2014) refereed France three times as part of the 1982 World Cup cycle, including the qualifying phase. The name of Antonio Garrido inevitably brings back memories of the French team at the 1982 World Cup, where he refereed the first and the last match: France-England, in Bilbao and France-Poland, in Alicante.
Antonio da Silva Garrido was born on 3 December 1932, in Marinha Grande, a town of some 12,000 inhabitants located 130 km north of Lisbon. He became an international referee in 1973. While continuing to work as an accountant, he refereed 29 European Cup matches and 13 matches between national teams. He refereed his first World Cup match on 2 June 1978 in the supercharged atmosphere of the Monumental in Buenos Aires, where Argentina started their tournament against Hungary. The Portuguese referee will be strongly criticized by the press, accusing him of having been too permissive with the local team against the Hungarians who had opened the score very early. The Argentinians won the match (2-1) by scoring the winning goal in the last 10 minutes. The match was influenced by the sending-off of the two stars of the Hungarian team, Andras Törőcsik and Tibor Nyilasi, which destroyed their hopes. This match will remain the black point of the Portuguese referee, but that will not prevent him from achieving a good international career. In 1980, he was the first Portuguese appointed to referee the Champions Cup final. In Madrid, Nottingham Forest won 1-0 against Hamburg. Garrido had already refereed the German club in 1977 on the occasion of the first leg of the European Super Cup against Liverpool. Twenty days after the European final, we find Garrido in Naples for a match of the first round of Euro 1980, where the Squadra Azzurra is held in check (0-0) by Belgium, which prevents them from qualifying for the final. Five players have been cautioned: two Italians and three Belgians. In May 1981, he refereed the final of the Festival Espoirs de Toulon, where Brazil defeated Czechoslovakia.
On 18 November 1981, Antonio Garrido refereed the decisive match France-Netherlands to win a ticket for the Spanish World Cup. At the start of the second half, he awarded a free kick for France following a foul by Neeskens on Platini. The French captain shoots it with the right foot, twenty meters from Van Breukelen's goal, but the ball is pushed back by the wall. The Dutch emerge, but the Portuguese referee whistles a free kick again, in the same place. Dutchman Van de Korput controlled the ball with his hand. Platini's new attempt, this time, is the right one. The ball goes around the orange wall and surprises the Dutch goalkeeper. Antonio Garrido is therefore at the origin of the Spanish adventure of the French team. We find him in Bilbao, at the San Mames, where the Blues, in white, face the England team. A bad memory for Michel Hidalgo's men who conceded a goal after 27 seconds and who largely lost the match (3-1), overwhelmed on all counts. Garrido issues a warning to Englishman Terry Butcher on the half hour mark. He is then scheduled to referee the Seville semi-final where France must face West Germany. But the tournament's referees committee wants to avoid the same referee leading the same team twice. It is ultimately Charles Corver, the Dutchman, who will be the referee for Sevilla. The Portuguese referee will see again the French team despite everything since he is appointed to referee the match for third place, which opposes the losers of the semi-finals. This match, played in Alicante, is a farewell gift from FIFA to Antonio Garrido who, aged 50, is ending his career at the end of the tournament. Mainly made up of its substitutes, the France B team faces a full Polish team, but a little tired. However, they won 3-2. Gerard Soler will be the last player to whom the Portuguese referee will have given a caution, after having sanctioned the Poles Buncol and Wojcicki. Antonio da Silva Garrido died in September 2014 at the age of 81. At the end of his career as a referee, he remained in the world of football as a member of the Refereeing Council of the Portuguese federation, FIFA referee instructor, commissioner of refereeing at the World Cup and UEFA observer. In 1983, he was decorated with the title of Officer of the Order of Infante Dom Henri, one of the highest honours in Portugal.
Source: Chroniques Bleues
