The Slovenian referee team consisted of his assistants, Jure Praprotnik from Ljubljana, Robert Vukan from Gornja Radgona, Slavko Vinčič from Maribor and Matej Jug from Čiginj in the Tolmin area. The Slovenian referee team was one of just three that refereed four games (Russia vs. Slovakia, Switzerland vs. France, England vs. Iceland, and Wales vs. Belgium.)
Skomina believes that this was confirmation of a job well done: “I'm very pleased. There were 18 referee teams at this event in total, and they all saw refereeing a third game as their goal, since there are 15 games remaining after the group stage - less than one per referee team. We exceeded this goal by refereeing two new games.”
The Koper native added: “We had pretty interesting games, especially the last two in the knockout stage. Both were very open, pleasing tow the eye, without a lot of tactical stalling. Each game at the Euro is very important; I couldn’t say that the first game in the group stage was easier to referee than a game in the knockout stage. The pressure is great; it’s important to remain very concentrated and to deal with the pressure. I believe I'm doing a good job handling that.” In addition to the games he refereed, Skomina also managed to see seven or eight games in France as a spectator.
He doesn’t allow anyone to walk all over him
What is a referee's schedule on the day of the match? “We usually get a good night’s sleep, followed by breakfast and then a joint rundown using video footage; this lasts a bit more than two hours and involves the final preparations for the game. We examine the footage individually beforehand, but we go through the most important things together: We talk about the teams' tactics, about who stands out in what ways, who gets all the crosses, who tends to pull on shirts, who tends to make plenty of contact, and so on. We prepare for the tiniest details than can help us during the game.”
Skomina says that he tries to give his full attention to each game: “The attitude is so significant. If you give it all you've got, you have nothing to blame yourself for. But we all make mistakes, including the referees. We are used to criticism anyway. Still, people must realize that there were between 35 to 40 TV cameras at each game during the Euro, and that they invariably see more than six sets of referees' eyes. When I see that I’ve made a mistake, I usually to say to a player, 'Sorry, I didn't see that,’ even during the game. Most of them accept the apology.”