Everyone knows Pierluigi Collina, referred to as the "Godfather of all referees", but I think that suits more to an 88 year old Israeli referee, Abraham Klein, a name to be remembered in this time of another world cup football. 

Abraham Klein was born in 1934, as a Jewish family member in Romania. He was put on a train to Holland along with 500 children to save from Nazis during the second world war. Later, he moved to Israel and still lives at Haifa with a sharp memory and good health. 

Klein refereed international matches between 1965 and 1982, including the 1968 and 1976 Olympics and important matches at the Mexico 1970, Argentina 1978 and Spain 1982 World Cup Finals. He was also a linesman for the 1982 World Cup Final in Spain. 

He had refereed his first Israeli league game at the age of 24; six years later he graduated to international football, when Israel played a friendly against the Netherlands. In 1965, at the age of 31, he was given his first major game: Italy v Poland in Rome. 

Throughout his career, the level of his preparation, both physical and mental, was extraordinary. Before the Mexico World Cup, he climbed mountains in Israel to help cope with the altitude; before the Argentina World Cup, eight years he trained in a similar climate in Cape Town. In a time of no internet, he would also reach a tournament city days before to learn about teams, players, and their fans. 

The Daily Mirror wrote, “The first authentic hero of the 1978 World Cup has emerged at last – and it is not a pampered, overpaid professional footballer, he is Abraham Klein of Israel.”

He was referee for some of the historic matches in that age, 1970 the England v Brazil, the Argentina v Italy, the Third Place Match between Italy and Brazil, the Brazil v Italy fixture in the 1982 World Cup. Klein was the only referee officiating three matches during the World Cup 1978. He missed some matches like finals due to politics and being Israeli.