Soccer: Wait-and-see game for man on the sideline

By TERRY MADDAFORD

New Zealander Paul Smith has run the line at two World Cup games but now faces an anxious wait to see whether he will again be pitched on to the world stage.

Back in Tokyo after working with Australian referee Mark Shields for the Tunisia-Belgium game in Oita, Smith has to wait until today to see whether he will be required again.

"I have not got another game in the last round of group matches so I don't know whether I'm staying or going," said 44-year-old Smith.

"They keep things pretty secret."

Smith, the first New Zealander appointed to matches at World Cup level, said: "We were all initially given return tickets for July 1 [after the final] but we have had to hand those back and play the waiting game."

Like all match officials, Smith has been wired for action.

All referees and their assistants have heart-rate monitors strapped to their chests and wear a watch which records information later downloaded by off-field officials.

"The watch beeps if your heart-rate reaches 80 per cent of the maximum beats per minute, which in my case is set at 220," said Smith. "The information is relayed to the physical trainers who work with us each day and are formulating a training programme for the 2006 World Cup."

Smith, whose earlier game was Russia against Tunisia in front of 30,957 spectators in Kobe, has been caught up in what he describes as a fantastic environment and the electric atmosphere inside the stadiums.

"It was very nerve-racking running out there for the first time," he said. "But with such great organisation, you feel as though you are really part of a tremendous experience."

Pocketing US$200 ($407) a day, the 72 officials are well looked after but, as Smith has found, money does not go far in Japan where a simple ice-cream set him back $11.

"Sure, the pressure is there," said Smith. "One mistake and the whole world sees, but I would not have missed the opportunity for anything. It's great."

Getting a game in the post-section round would be the ultimate for Smith.

But even if he misses the cut, he will bring home a new Fifa tracksuit and other gear including red, yellow and black Fifa shirts - and a host of memories.

nzherald.co.nz/fifaworldcup

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