Former Serie A referee Paolo Casarin feels that referee Simone Sozza did a virtually flawless job of taking charge of Inter’s clash with Roma over the weekend.
Writing in his column in today’s print edition of Corriere della Sera, Casarin gave the view that Sozza dispelled any pre-match doubts about his suitability for the match with a performance without any errors.
Sozza had been an appointment with some controversy given that he is an inexperienced official for a top match between the Nerazzurri and the Giallorossi, and especially given that he was born in Milan.
Some Roma fans felt that Sozza could be biased towards the Nerazzurri given his place of birth, and this became a talking point in the buildup to the match.
However, in the view of Casarin, this proved to be anything but the case, and Casarin gave a very good account of himself with his display.
“He took charge of Inter’s match against Roma without errors,” he writes of Sozza, “erasing all doubts about the designation of him.”
He continues, “From the beginning, he was respected by the players as he was committed to understanding the flow of the game before looking to find fouls.”
“In fact, the first foul was given in the fifth minute, and after that it was refereed in an ‘English’ style with about twenty fouls given in the end,” he explains.
Casarin praises Sozza for “Brilliant refereeing, which also did not get any protests, including from the benches.”
