Pierluigi Collina spotted at Women’s World Cup – with fans more scared than ever

Pierluigi Collina has been spotted in the stands at the Women's World Cup – and he looks as terrifying as ever.

The iconic Italian official, considered by many to be the greatest referee of all time, was in attendance at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand to watch Spain's semi-final clash with Sweden on Tuesday.

He was the absolute spitting image of his younger self, sporting the same legendary chrome dome and beaming out the same demonic death stare that scared the life out of troublemaking footballers back in the day.

Fans on social media were happy to see him, though some joked they'd be seeing him in their nightmares later tonight too.

READ MORE: Pierluigi Collina looks unrecognisable with hair in rare snap of ref before bald bonce

"Pierluigi Collina is scarier than ever I see," one supporter tweeted. "Great to see him but the guy looks like death," a second wrote, to which a third fan replied: "He always has!"

"Absolute nightmare fuel, this," commented another, while a fifth added: "When is Collina getting cast as a supernatural villain in a horror movie?"

Others lavish the 63-year-old with praise, with one insisting: "They don't make referees like him anymore". Another agreed, writing: "Kids don't know how good this guy was." A third tweeted: "No one f***ed with Collina. Back when refs were proper refs."

If Pierluigi Collina is the greatest referee of all time, who is the second greatest? Let us know in the comments section below.

Collina rose to prominence in the 1990s and quickly established himself as Italian football's top referee thanks to his uncompromising no-nonsense approach. His trademark bald head, caused after he developed a severe form of alopecia in his late 20s, also helped him stand out.

He spent over a decade refereeing some of the biggest matches in world football, including the Olympic final in 1996, the Champions League final in 1999, the World Cup final in 2002, and the final of Euro 2004, before hanging up his whistle in 2005.

He was also named the World's Best Referee six years running between 1998 and 2003 and became the first (and so far only) referee to appear on the cover of a video game after being picked as the poster boy for Pro Evolution Soccer 3 and Pro Evolution Soccer 4.

These days he's still involved in officiating, albeit behind the scenes. Since 2010, Collina has been head of referees for the Football Federation of Ukraine, and played an integral part in the roll-out of VAR ahead of the 2018 World Cup, having been appointed chairman of the FIFA referees committee several years ago.

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