Unknown facts about the best Russian at Euro 2020 judge Sergey Karasev

Yesterday the referee Sergey Karasev played the match of the 1/8 finals of the Euro and, according to colleagues and commentators of the Championship, did it flawlessly: the Czechs shook hands after the match, the Dutch did not protest, and all because with the help of VAR the referee showed the correct red card de Ligt for playing by hand.

So the Czech Republic, after winning 2: 0, went to the quarterfinals, and Karasev moved in the direction of his dream: to work out the Euro final and get a tattoo in honor of this.

Sergei’s passage to the Euro playoffs is an achievement. The last time a Russian referee worked in the playoffs of the Euro or the World Cup was in June 2006 – then Valentin Ivanov showed 16 yellow cards to the Portuguese and Dutch in the 1/8 finals.

Now we have Sergei Karasev, a rock judge whose work and story are fascinating. And yes, the best Russian at the Euro, who stayed at the tournament (together with his assistants) longer than all his compatriots.

***

Sergei played football, but realized that it was impossible to reach a professional level, so until 2005, a lawyer by training, Karasev worked in a bank: he started as a courier in a law firm. Due to flights to the matches of the lower leagues, which were judged by Sergei, it was impossible to work fully, and football eventually won.

In April 2008, he made his debut in the RPL in the Wings – Luch match – 13 years after the start of his refereeing career. In 2016, I reread a letter from Pierluigi Collins about an invitation to the Euro, and two years later he judged the semifinals of the Europa League between Marseille and Salzburg.

Then he worked at the match Australia – Peru at the home world championship in 2018, and right now he is judging Euro 2020 and gets your admiration under every post.

????????????????In the match Italy – Switzerland after the intervention of VAR canceled the goal of the Italians due to handball Chiellini.

???????????????? The dramatic match Germany – Hungary was clearly judged.

???????????????? And for the first time in his career he worked in the Euro playoffs.

To get to know the Russian hero of Euro 2020 better, we have collected various facts about Karasev: why he does not like tarragon and how he knows all Soviet comedies by heart

• Sergey Karasev. 42 years old, Moscow.

• Respects squash caviar. Tarragon has not liked since childhood for the unnatural color of the drink. Doesn’t eat sweets. He says that cookies, soda and fast food are not his.

• Most of all he loves fried potatoes, which my mother cooked in the 80s and 90s.

Recipe from Karasev: cut the potatoes into strips, add a little oil (so that you don’t get deep frying or fries), cover with a lid to steam, open and fry until crisp.

• During quarantine, he lived in a country house outside the city with his wife, mother-in-law and two children: for the first time in three years of the country house existence, Karasev united with his family for a long time in this format and did not fly away to the matches. He kept in shape on a platform with a rubber coating and a basketball backboard, ran through the forest and pedaled on a bicycle on the second floor for 40 minutes.

• The wife reads a lot, Sergey asks her for recommendations. Recently – “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”.

• Loves cinema, knows all Soviet classics and heroes’ monologues by heart. Shurik is too easy for Karasev. Where does this love come from? As a child, as soon as the VCR appeared, I recorded the films that were on TV.

Highlights films Eldara Ryazanova and Alla Surikova. During the quarantine, he recommended me “I want to jail” and “The Man from Boulevard des Capucines” directed by Surikova and “Flights in Dreams and in Reality” Roman Balayan.

• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Tarantino looked five times.

• Listens to any metal: from the lightest to the heaviest. For mood, includes a few songs before games; says that under your favorite compositions you want to “enter the metal dance.”

• Regrets that Slayer has finished performing. Wants to go to Europe for Kreator.

Other favorite bands – Kamelot, Iron Maiden, AC / DC, Accept, Whitesnake – Karasev listens in the car, quietly in the speaker or with headphones. They also train playing the electric guitar with the lead guitarist of the Catharsis group Oleg Mishin. During the quarantine, Karasev rehearsed in the bathhouse, did not want to strain his family with the buzzing of an electric guitar: “This is not for the faint of heart.”

• In February 2021, together with the Catharsis group, he performed the song “Warrior of Light” at the Metal-Elka rock festival.

Rock!

• At other rock concerts I met the ex-goalkeeper of “Amkar” Sergey Narubin and midfielder “Khimki” Vitaly Grishina. And after the Dynamo – Rubin match in the summer of 2019, he discussed the music with the Kazan head coach Roman Sharonov – that both missed the Metallica concert that took place during the match.

After winning that game Sharonov told the players that on the field he experienced more emotions than from a live concert of his favorite band.

• Two or three soccer balls are lying underfoot in Karasev’s apartment and country house.

• My son plays football, sometimes Karasev, who graduated from a sports school, trains him. When they watch football together, the son for some reason singles out the Juventus players for himself and answers the dad’s questions: “Was there a penalty in this situation?”

• Calls his mother-in-law world, because she always supports Sergei.

• Considers the bath as an excellent recovery. A trip to Karaseva’s steam room looks like this: heats it up to 85-90 degrees, brews eucalyptus and chamomile for the smell. In winter, after the second or third approach, he likes to wipe himself off with snow.

• Runs no less than footballers per match – 10-12 kilometers each.

• Bald from the age of eight. Why so – he himself does not know the reason, at one point the hair just began to fall out. Because of the screams and name-calling of “evil people” I played in a hat until I was 12, then I stopped paying attention to it.

• I used to drink instant coffee, but after working with the head of Russian judges Roberto Rosetti – only grain and from a coffee machine.

• In the spring of 2021, did not kneel in the BLM campaign before the match between Manchester City and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

• A universal phrase from Karasev to a football player who did not break the rules, but suddenly wound up: “Please, not more, not today, not for me, not in my match, please” me, not in my match, please “).

Italian version: “Tranquillo, per favore” (“Please calm down”).

Such words, according to Karasev, relax the players – in response, they can smile and pat on the shoulder. Plus, the players understand that the judge is not only a punisher, but also a person who can joke.

• In correspondence uses a rocker goat.

So everyone ???? and Sergey Karasev!