Mark Geiger will take charge of a World Cup knockout-round match for the second straight tournament.
The 43-year-old American was selected as the referee for Tuesday’s round of 16 clash between Colombia and England.
The game is the third of the tournament of the New Jersey native, who took charge of Portugal’s win over Morocco and South Korea’s triumph over Germany in the group stage.
Geiger, who is a regular MLS referee, also refereed the round of 16 match between France and Nigeria four years ago.
Assistant referees Joe Fletcher and Frank Anderson, who are employed by PRO, join Geiger for Tuesday’s game in Moscow.
He is an embarrassment. Makes USA soccer look very bad. He lacks character and is the reason his games are controversial.
Getting a round of 16 game is a good accolade, but getting further is much harder. If he refs the England/Col game well, he will be put in the ref pool for /14 and semi’s, but that’s a tall order s there are many quality experienced refs still in the pool. Still, its good to have a reference point. to see how we have progresses ref wise.
Geiger obviously tests well on the written exams and is a fit guy to keep up with play. At this level it is all about cards and man management. US refs have a habit of allowing play to go on more than Euro refs (I think), but at this level it allows the players to win the game, not the ref, VAR or FIFA.
I believe Geiger also was the lead VAR assistant for at least one game. However, I am not going to praise him. The last time I wrote something touting the improvement of MLS referees, almost immediately one of them totally screwed up in a televised game. So, Geiger, break a leg.
For me, I am still vaguely amazed how cheaply Geiger got off for the 2015 Gold Cup semi-final. Disturbing bastardization of fair play. But, he is still a pretty good ref when he’s not trying to impress his bosses.