Eduardo Iturralde González (born 20 February 1967 in
Arrankudiaga) is a retired
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
football referee.
He frequently served as a referee for European matches in the
Europa League and
Champions League. Iturralde notably refereed the
El Clásico on three occasions, in 1999, 2005 and most recently in November 2010, in which he was praised by Barcelona for his performance.
Iturralde González was the referee of the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
's 2–1 win over
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
in the last
Euro 2012 qualifying match. Early in the game, he sent off Armenian goalkeeper
Roman Berezovsky for a handball, although video replays indicated that the ball hit his chest.
Two days after the match, the
Football Federation of Armenia officially filed a protest to UEFA over the goalkeeper's dismissal.
On 23 March 2012 he announced his retirement from refereeing due to disagreements with the Spanish Technical Committee, although it was already time for him to retire at the end of the 2011–12 season. His last game was Real Betis vs Real Madrid (2–3) on 10 March 2012. He could not finish this game due to a muscle injury, being substituted by the fourth referee, Gorka Sagués Oscoz, during half time.
References
External links
Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez stats at ''worldreferee.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iturralde Gonzalez, Eduardo
1967 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Biscay
Spanish football referees
Spanish dentists
People from Arratia-Nerbioi