Referee's have to apply the laws of the game without prejudice to either team OR the circumstances. Ref's are often asked if they would issue a red card in a final in the first 2 minutes of a game or the last 2. The question is really superfluous. Ref's are paid to make tough decisions and believe me if he had played the advantage and Giuly had missed he would be getting slated in the Spanish press right now.
Players are responsible for what they do. Lehman is to blame, not the ref.
As for the link to Blatter, most people in Europe regard him as a fool and will totally ignore his opinion on pretty much everything.
To say that because this ref is from the Norwegian League he shouldn't have done this final is condescending. He hasn't just jumped from Norwegian club games to this match. He is a FIFA ref which means he has done full internationals. In England a lot of people said the same thing about an American ref in the World Cup in Italy in 1990, that because he only refs in the States he shouldn't be at the World Cup! That's nonsense and we all know it. There are refs here that could ref anywhere and I'm sure there are in Norway too.
