Who is Angelica Soffia? Angelica Soffia, also known as Angelique refereeing, is a professionally paid refereeing in Italy’s top league Ligue 1, playing right back for AC Milan. She is also known as Angelina, due to the ethnic background she has. She started her career playing football as a youth in a number of lower league clubs before moving on to train with the first team of Italian top flight side Genoa, coached by Zinedine Zidane. She then played a number of games for the senior team before retiring in 2021, having been given a role as a fitness coach at Milanese Nike for the duration.
So how did Angelica Soffia become such a popular match referee? This may be down to her unique style of play which involves taking decisions whilst still acting as an assistant referee. Angelica Soffia started her career from a very young age, being introduced into the national team setup from a very young age after being called up by her father, who was the coach of the national side. It is interesting to note that Soffea was often brought up wearing an apron, a clear sign of her being brought up as part of the family unit and brought up to do certain jobs; she even used to wear her mother’s scrub top under her scrubs when she refereeed matches!
As a refereeing in the Italian national team, Angelica Soffia has referred a number of different games, including the 2021 World Cup final, the semi-final against England and the quarter final against Brazil. Having refereed in these major international tournaments, it is clear that Angelica is able to call a lot of fouls on the pitch and has a natural instinct for the call of a foul. This has enabled her to progress in the refereeing position, where it may be harder to get a decision because you’re under pressure from so many other people, not to mention the time it takes to make a decision. Referees are usually appointed to officiate a game following a certain level of experience, from young children who are only learning their trade to professionals who have been doing the job for many years. Angelica Soffia certainly falls into the latter category, has been a referee for many years, the qualities that make her a fine referee are clearly apparent in her playing and her ability to put everyone on the right side of the law.