Referee relishing 'special game'

Swiss referee Urs Meier is delighted to have been put in charge of tomorrow night's first UEFA EURO 2004™ quarter-final between Portugal and England at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.

Frisk appointment
UEFA's Referees' Committee made the announcement this morning at a press conference in Espinho just outside Porto, with Swedish referee Anders Frisk appointed to referee the second quarter-final between France and Greece at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon on Friday.

‘Fantastic crowd’
"I'm very happy to still be involved in the tournament," said Meier. "I think it will be a great quarter-final between Portugal and England with a fantastic crowd in a fantastic stadium. This is one of the most important games in my career. The biggest game for me was the semi-final of the [FIFA] World Cup, but this will be the second or third most important game I've ever done."

Normal preparations
He added: "It's a special game, but I will prepare as normal. You know the players and the mentality of both teams and this is the main point of preparation for a referee before a game."

Busy Frisk
Frisk was equally enthusiastic about his next assignment after refereeing the Group A showdown between Spain and Portugal last Sunday. "It's another big challenge and one I'm looking forward to," he said. "UEFA are keeping us busy, but that's the way we like it."