Collina doing his final homework

The eyes of the football world will focus on Pierluigi Collina when he takes charge of the FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Germany in Yokohama. The 42-year-old Italian has reached the ultimate goal of any referee's career - and admits that it will be difficult for him to keep his feet on the ground.

Something unbelievable
"To be appointed for such a match is something unbelievable," says Collina, who has already refereed the England-Argentina group match and Japan-Turkey second-round encounter during this World Cup. "Although I have refereed a lot of matches in my career, the World Cup final is different from all other things.

Clear conscience
"I think that every referee selected for the World Cup has worked as hard as possible to prepare for the tournament," he adds. "When I get to the ground, I will know that I've done all I can to get ready, and my conscience is clear."

Close scrutiny
Collina, who is used to officiating in crucial games, knows that he will be under close scrutiny at the climax to a tournament that has seen the refereeing profession take a severe critical battering. His recipe for success will be to do his homework on the two teams before the game.

Full information
"It's very important to get all the information I can about the teams themselves, because it's important that a referee knows as much as possible about the way a team plays, and about the way individual players will play," explains Collina.

About tactics
"It's about tactics," he adds. "It's completely different refereeing a match where a team plays with three players at the back or four, or with tough midfielders pressing their opponents for the ball, or with two wingers where the play goes out wide. Football has reached a very high standard, and football needs referees to be very well prepared."

Earning respect
Collina is known as a referee who, for all his trademark stern stares, has earned the respect of the world's top players. He expresses the view that the more human a referee, the better his relationship will be with the players. "I don't think that there is a perfect referee," he says. "Referees are human and they make mistakes. I will be trying to do my best.

Wonderful esteem
"It's wonderful when there is esteem between the referee and players, because we need it. We need referees and players not to be enemies. We are doing the same thing in different ways, and we are all doing our best to put on an enjoyable show."

Sharing words
When Collina blows the final whistle on Sunday, he will try to share a few words with the victors - and comfort the vanquished. "I think you can feel that particular moment," he explains. "When a team loses, it's too easy to celebrate with the winners. It's more important to stay close to the losers.

Great tournament
"When you see someone crying, I think it's normal to try to tell them some words. It was the same at the end of Japan-Turkey - I went to some Japanese players and told them that they must be proud of what they did, because they had a great tournament."

Not easy
Collina concludes by saying that the referee's task has become increasingly difficult within the high pace and high stakes of the modern elite game. "Our job is not easy - it was not easy 20 years ago, and it is not easy now," he states.

Multiple cameras
"I think something has changed in the last 20 years. I remember then that there were few cameras on the field. In this World Cup, about 20 cameras work during a match, so the difficulties of our job have increased a lot.

Same for players
“I think we have been well prepared," says the man with the most distinctive features in the game. "We worked a lot before and during the tournament, and tried to do our best. Sometimes this is not enough - but it is the same for players sometimes."