Canada still alive

FIFA has announced the referees who will remain here until the end of the World Cup, and Hector Vergara of Winnipeg has survived the last cut.

Vergara, who served as assistant referee at the 2006 World Cup semifinal matching Germany and Italy at Dortmund and also ran the line at the third-place game four years before that in South Korea, is recognized as the best deputy in CONCACAF. He's a Winnipegger, the executive director of the Manitoba Soccer Association, and this is his third World Cup finals - he's your Canadian content at this tournament.

Vergara was not included in the semifinal officiating lineup - Ravshan Irmatov, who worked the opening game here between South Africa and Mexico, will handle Tuesday's Netherlands-Uruguay meeting in Cape Town, and Hungarian Viktor Kassai will work Spain-Germany Wednesday in Durban.

Vergara's crew is headed up by referee Benito Archundia of Mexico. Both of them are working their final World Cup matches - Tellez is 44, and Vergara will be the same age in December. FIFA rules mandate referees retire at age 45. With his c.v. - no assistant referee has worked more games in World Cup finals history - it'd be no surprise to see them out there for the final, after a fairly incident-free tournament here.

Related: Canadian referees (worldreferee.com)