Collina hopes to avoid contentious calls (Allsport)

By Ian Parkes, PA Sport, Yokohama

Click here for more World Cup news

Influential Italian referee Pierluigi Collina has promised to do his homework on both Brazil and Germany ahead of Sunday's World Cup final to avoid any contentious decisions.

But Collina, widely regarded as the world's top official, claims mistakes by himself and his assistants - England's Philip Sharp and Leif Lindberg of Sweden - cannot be ruled out.

"Our task between now and Sunday will be to be as well-prepared as we can," said Collina.

"It is important to get as much information as possible to know how the teams and individual players perform."

The appointment of the 42-year-old Collina, recognisable by his shaven head and bulging eyes, is no surprise.

Earlier in the tournament he took charge of the high-profile and potentially volatile clash between England and Argentina, awarding the penalty from which David Beckham scored to clinch a famous victory.

"Even though I have refereed a lot of games in my career, the World Cup final is different," added Collina.

"I'm interested in the tactics of both teams on Sunday. I don't necessarily mean simulation or bad behaviour, but about players' movements on the field."

After a month of unprecedented controversy over the officiating, Collina said he could only do his best on Sunday, although acknowledged penalties and other incidents in and around the area had proved difficult to call.

"The penalty box is the most important part of the field," stressed Collina.

"A mistake made in the middle of the pitch is accepted by everyone but inside the box errors are shown hundreds and hundreds of times."

Asked why the job of refereeing appeared to have become harder rather than easier, the Italian put it down to far more scrutiny.

"Something has changed in the last 20 years. Back then there were far fewer cameras than there are now which has made the job much more difficult," said Collina.

"Referees and players have to trust each other. We are not enemies, we just do our jobs in different ways."