Pierluigi Collina - the legend of football refereeing (5 photos + 1 video)

A unique referee, with a unique appearance and equally unique behavior on the field. Looking at how he works, it’s hard to look away. Pierluigi is a judge who cannot be forgotten.





Pierluigi Collina was born to Luciana and Ilia Collina. His father worked in the civil service, and his mother was a primary school teacher. The child received an excellent education and graduated with honors from the Faculty of Commerce and Economics of Bologna. He never thought about becoming a football referee.

Collina came to play football, even became a central defender, but soon realized that this path was not for him. Pierluigi has always been distinguished by healthy self-criticism and common sense and calmly accepted the fact that nature did not reward him with excellent data and skills for a football career.



At the age of 17, Collina enrolled in referee courses and this became a decisive factor in his life. Almost in parallel with all these events, Collin fell ill with a severe form of alopecia (partial or complete loss of all hair), but he was little bothered by the change in appearance. And later, the feature became his calling card and he even took part in a number of advertising shoots.





When Collin began appearing on Italian television, such a young but very principled judge was immediately nicknamed Kojak.

This was a character from an American TV series - the same bald cop Kojak, honest and incorruptible, who fought criminals on the streets of the metropolis. Well, Collina dealt with violations on the field, so there are some similarities.



By the age of 35, Collina had played 43 Serie A matches and received the status of a FIFA referee, and a year later he began working at the games of the 1996 Olympics football tournament. Including the final: Nigeria-Argentina.

Two more matches in Pierluigi's career are interesting. 1999 Champions League and 2002 World Cup. In the three minutes added to normal time by Pierluigi, the result of the Bayern-Manchester United match at the Camp Nou was completely turned upside down. The finale of the game was one of the most powerful in the history of football.

Well, the legendary match between Brazil and Germany in 2002. And according to the ratings, the match in Yokohama became a diamond in Collina’s career.