On June 12, 2008, Howard Webb's name was inflected in Poland in every possible way. The Polish national team was playing their second match in their historic first European Championship. They lost their first match to Germany 0:2, so the clash with the tournament hosts, Austria, was considered crucial in terms of advancing from the group.
A famous judge will come to Poland. Everyone knows his name
The match, although it started with a hurricane of attacks by Austria, turned out better for the Poles. Roger Guerreiro scored a goal and it seemed that the White and Reds would maintain a modest but priceless lead until the end of the match and achieve a historic victory. However, this did not happen. In the added time of the second half, Mariusz Lewandowski fouled Sebastian Proedl in the penalty area, and Ivica Vastić converted a penalty. The draw practically eliminated Poland's chances for success during the Austrian-Swiss finals.
The referee of that match was the aforementioned Webb, who became an anti-hero on the Vistula after the match. Paradoxically, the Englishman did make a mistake that night, but to the benefit of the White and Reds. Roger's goal was scored from offside, and the penalty kick was perfectly legal.
The fans' perspective remained unchanged, however, and Webb forever became a symbol of the defeat of that tournament, from the Polish perspective. The first associations with his name usually bring to mind the match between Poland and Austria, not 2010, when the Englishman was the referee of both the Champions League final and the World Cup.
There is no hiding the fact that he was more respected in world football than in our country. Today, 16 years after the Euro 2008 match, the 53-year-old Webb will come to Poland. All because of professional obligations. He will be an observer during the Champions League qualifying match.
Of course, it is not about the match of the Polish team, because Jagiellonia Białystok was eliminated in the third round of the Champions League qualifiers by the Norwegian Bodo/Glimt. However, in our country there is still a fight for promotion to these elite games – all thanks to Dynamo Kiev, which will play RB Salzburg in Lublin.
The first match will take place on Wednesday, August 21. Webb will observe the work of Sandro Scharer, the Swiss referee of the match. Information about the Englishman's visit to Poland was provided on the X portal by Paweł Mogielnicki from the portal 90minut.pl.