At just 31 years old, Iván Bárton, from El Salvador, will be responsible for refereeing the confrontation between Brazil and Switzerland, for the second round of Group G of the first phase of the World Cup. Iván was included in the list of main referee, assistant referee and video referee (VAR) for this World Cup.
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Bárton has had the responsibility of participating in other major national team tournaments such as the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Nations League and the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup However, for the first time the Salvadoran was selected for a World Cup. Barton is considered one of his country’s top referees.
Bárton is the third youngest referee in the entire World Cup. He was in charge of the confrontation between Japan and Germany and signaled a penalty for the Germans. Only 30-year-old Peruvian Kevin Ortega and 31-year-old Honduran Said Martinez, who will be the match’s fourth official – this one by months – are younger than the Salvadoran.
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The referee has also been in a match in Brazil, but for the Olympics, in Tokyo. In the confrontation against Germany, it was Bárton who commanded the match. In addition to him, Salvadoran David Moran and Surinamese Zachari Zeegelaar will be in the match as assistants. VAR is the responsibility of Canadian Drew Fischer.
EL SALVADOR IN CUPS
The Salvadoran national football team has already been to two World Cups, but has not played one since 1982. The World Cups, including those in El Salvador, are not a good memory for their fans. In both 1970 and 1982, the Salvadorans didn’t even advance. In Mexico, there were three games and three defeats, with no goals scored and nine conceded.
Already in 1982, Luis Ramirez scored the first goal of the national team in Cups. However, in the same game, they lost 10. The Salvadorans have the biggest defeat they suffered in a World Cup and it was in their debut against Hungary, by 10 to 1. Hungary itself did not even advance to the next stage, in a group that still had Argentina and Belgium.
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In the current Qualifiers, El Salvador reached the final octagonal and finished in seventh place, with two wins, four draws and eight defeats, in 14 games.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
The El Salvador League is played by 12 clubs currently. The current champion is Desportivo FAS. FAS is the biggest champion in the country with 18 titles, followed by Aguila with 16 and Alianza with 15.
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The greatest player in Salvadoran football, for many, is Mágico González, who played for Cádiz in Spain. He was one of the few who had some prominence in the 1982 World Cup and had trials at Barcelona, but ended up being dismissed for indiscipline.
The athlete with the most appearances for the El Salvador national team is Alfredo Pacheco, who played in 85 games, scoring seven goals between 2002 and 2013. In his last year as a professional, he was banned from football along with 13 other players for match fixing. IN 2015, he was murdered at the age of 33.
Tags: referee Brazil Switzerland World Cup
