Studer named as Under-19 final referee

Swiss referee Stephan Studer has been selected to take charge of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final between France and Spain in Caen on Friday.

The final will be the 34-year-old's third refereeing engagement at the U19 tournament in Basse-Normandie, after the Croatia-Italy goalless draw and France's 1-1 stalemate with England, both in the group stage. Thorsten Schiffner of Germany and the Czech Republic's Ondrej Pelikan will serve as assistant referees at the Stade Michel-d'Ornano.

"It is a huge pleasure to have been chosen for this final, it is an honour," Studer, who has also performed fourth official duties at two matches, including France's 2-1 semi-final defeat of Croatia, told UEFA.com. "It's been a tremendous pleasure to take part in this tournament with my colleagues, and this is the icing on the cake. I am really glad to be able to do this final along with my team. I have a very good relationship with my assistants and we will do everything to make sure we have a beautiful final."

While the two finalist teams work on their tactics for Friday's 19.00CET kick-off in northern France, the match officials' preparations are no less intense. "We're focused, we're ready physically and we'll look at the match," he said. "We'll study how the teams play and look at who the players are. Our biggest task is to prepare for a certain number of scenarios in advance, to be ready on the day. We'll train as usual then relax before the game. I will read – I do that a lot – have a massage and listen to music. I will not change my habits. I am a very quiet person, I need to be calm."

Studer has been involved in UEFA competition since 2003, acting as fourth official in a number of UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and European U21 and U17 Championship qualifying fixtures, before his first refereeing assignment as the Netherlands took on Croatia in the U19 elite round last March. He also worked as fourth official at two UEFA Champions League group stage games in 2009/10, including the meeting between FC Barcelona and eventual winners FC Internazionale Milano in November, and has taken charge of two qualifying matches in this season's UEFA Europa League.

"This is an important step and I have other objectives," Studer added. "The final was one of those and that is reached. Now I'm adding further objectives. My goal is to officiate in the Champions League and go as far as possible. I have already had a taste of that at Barcelona-Inter and it was magic. The observers who are here to give us advice have been important. What they say is mostly details but details that help us improve. I have learned a lot and this will help me get better and take the best decisions, so that at the end of the day the big winner is football."