World Cup 2018: England’s lucky charm Cuneyt Cakir appointed as referee for Croatia semi-final
ENGLAND’S lucky charm has been appointed as the referee for the World Cup semi-final against Croatia.
The Three Lions have not lost when Turkish official Cuneyt Cakir has taken charge.
Cakir has been the man in the middle for five England internationals during his career.
He was the ref for wins over Andorra in 2008, Switzerland in 2014 and the 3-0 qualifying success against Scotland at Wembley in November 2016.
Cakir has also officiated England’s home draws with Ghana in 2011 and Ukraine a year later.
The 41-year-old was the referee for the 2015 Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus.
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Cakir has been involved in controversy at this World Cup - Nigeria felt they should have had a penalty in their 2-1 defeat to Argentina, with the incident not reviewed by officials.
He also refereed Sir Alex Ferguson's last match in the Champions League in 2013, provoking the Scot's anger after sending off Nani for a high tackle in the last-16 defeat to Real Madrid.
Ferguson, who opted not to attend his mandatory post-match press conference, said it was "hard to keep faith" after the decision.
Prior to the match he had told his backroom staff he was concerned Cakir had a tendency to send off players of English-based teams having dismissed seven but never any from teams playing against them.
Those players Cakir red-carded included Chelsea's John Terry and Gary Cahill and former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.
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