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Poll in position for Lisbon showpiece

English referee Graham Poll will take charge of the UEFA Cup final between Sporting Clube de Portugal and PFC CSKA Moskva.

Latest honour
His appointment for the first European club final of the season is the latest refereeing honour for 41-year-old Poll, a sales manager from Tring, just north of London. He will be accompanied by his compatriots, assistant referees Glenn Turner and Mike Tingey, and fourth official Steve Bennett.

Steady progress
After five years as an assistant referee, Poll graduated to the middle in 1991, officiated at his first English Premier League match in 1993, and then made it on to the international referees' list in 1996. That same year, he refereed at the UEFA European Under-16 Championship in Austria.

Regular call-ups
He took charge of two games at UEFA EURO 2000™ in Belgium and the Netherlands, and has regularly officiated at Europe's highest levels ever since, as well as covering English Premiership fixtures and domestic cup finals.

Busy season
During the 2003/04 campaign, he refereed four UEFA Champions League matches and one UEFA Cup game, in addition to the UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying play-off between Spain and Norway. This season, he has been in the middle for six Champions League ties from the qualifying phase to the knockout stages, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Latvia and Portugal.

'Absolute joy'
"It's an absolute joy for me," Poll told uefa.com. "In England, you focus on getting a cup final like the FA Cup final, and once you've done that it's a question of keeping your career going, doing your best from game to game, and if anything else comes along it's a bonus. My season has gone well, and this confirms to me how well it has gone.

Big-match nerves
"Traditionally before games I don't get nervous, but I've no doubt that probably a couple of hours before this game, there will be some nerves. I don't think that's a bad thing because if you can harness those emotions, it can drive you on to be as strong as you need to be, and hopefully ensure that it's a good game played fairly and enjoyed by the spectators."

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