What an awful, awful job by the referee in the scintillating US-Slovenia match. The US scored what would've been the game-winning goal late in the game, but the referee disallowed it for a phantom foul.
The replay clearly showed that several US players were mugged in the penalty box by Slovenian defenders, but somehow a US player was called for a foul. Who or what they did is still unclear. It was outrageous.
That said, the US was fortunate to get a draw after being down 2-0 at halftime. A loss would've surely knocked them out of the tournament, but the US fought back and leveled the score in the 82nd minute with a fantastic goal from Michael Bradley, the coach's son.
The US has a flare for the dramatic, that's for sure. As a fan, I'd really appreciate it if the US would score first for once! Giving up these early goals is crippling. They're putting themselves in the position of being at the mercy of a bad call.
But after England shockingly drew with Algeria in the next match, the US finds itself in a very simple position: Beat Algeria and the US advances to the Round of 16. Lose, and they're out. If US-Algeria is a draw, things get complicated. The situation is exactly the same for England, who will get blasted in the tabloids tomorrow for drawing with Algeria!
I like our chances, but clearly, the US needs to start games better.
And that referee needs to be sent home.
The referee in the Germany-Serbia game should go with him. He red-carded one of the best German goal-scorers, Miroslav Klose, on a very tame challenge. It was a foul, but there was no reason to pull out the card. This ref was carding just about every foul in the game. It's ridiculous, and it's the reason some people are jaded about the World Cup results. Because of the red card, Klose will be suspended for the next match. He'll essentially miss two full games.
When the world's best players are sitting on the bench because of overzealous referees, it goes a long way toward ruining the Cup. Very frustrating.
Germany played two-thirds of the game with 10 men but should've done better. Lucas Podolski, who I lauded yesterday, missed a penalty kick. Germany's final group game is with Ghana. That won't be an easy match. If Germany gets knocked out in the group stage, it'll be one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. Before today, Germany had won or drawn every group stage game since 1986!
Suddenly, this World Cup is starting to look more like an NCAA tournament. Could get very interesting...
Yeah, I pretty much 2nd all your opinions. But the US earned their miserable luck with that 1st half performance. They restored my faith in the 2nd half, which was definitely a tall order. But why do they create such complex journeys of drama for themselves and the rest of us?!?!
ReplyDelete*sigh*
GO USA!!!
I have a soft spot for the ref in the USA-Slovenia game because he is from Mali, but I agree that the ref in the Serbia-Germany game was foolish for giving Klose a red card. I mean, to eject a player from a game - any game - the infraction must be extreme. And that was not the case in this situation...
ReplyDeleteWell... first of all... thanks Scott for coming back to blog. You've got a loyal reader here.
ReplyDeleteAbout the game... what can I say? That is part of soccer: unfair referee calls. Sometimes they go your way (remember Kaka's denied goal against the US at the final of the confederation cup last year?) and sometimes they go against you.
The US will make it to the next round. And Spain too I hope.
Thank you, Miguelo. Huh, I have a good friend named Miguel who would also desperately like to see Spain get through... hmmm.
ReplyDeleteI hope they make it as well. They should be in the round of 16.
Yeah, I know bad calls are part of the game, but this guy was particularly bad. It was his first WC game, and I'm willing to give him a bad call or two, but he was terrible all game. Yeah, Algeo, I know he's from Mali and that's great, but you gotta do better than that.
More troubling is how quick his whistle was on that play. And where was the linesman while three US defenders were getting tackled American-style in the box? Can you imagine if this happened to Brazil or Argentina?? Or if it happened in the World Cup final?
A. That guy would need a bodyguard for the rest of his life.
B. FIFA would do something about it.