The 2010 World Cup Thread / South Africa

[PixieDust32]

So there is nothing they can do anymore? Can they challenge the play or whatever?

 

[Aisling]

I watched the game, saw the "bear hug", but I don't understand what an offside goal is and why it was called foul?? Can someone please explain that to me?

 

[DianeV]

It actually wasnt called offsides. Offsides means that your player cannot be in front of the last defender and receive the ball.

The foul this referee was supposedly calling had to do with the grabbing and holding however he didnt seem to notice that it was the other team doing the grabbing and holding...or didnt care

 

[DisneyTarheel]

It looks like FIFA may exclude him as a referee from further cup matches.

We control our destiny in this round, but I am worried about the Algeria game -- classic trap game.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

It looks like FIFA may exclude him as a referee from further cup matches...

They should - he still refuses to admit that he made a mistake or point out what he thought was a foul. The foul call came so early on the play that it has a very real appearance of something underhanded.

To make this right, all he had to do was come forward, say what he thought he saw, and say that he made a mistake. We all make mistakes. His unwillingness to admit as much means that either his ego is too large to be allowed to officiate any longer in these matches, or he has another agenda.

 

[FireDancer]

That was really a terrible call yesterday. You can hear the whistle go just as the ball is being kicked into the net so it was a foul call, not offsides. I have no idea what foul he saw. We were being bear hugged and while we should have had a penalty those are pretty much never called, the play should have gone on and the result should have been a goal.

That being said, we never should have given up that second goal. If the back line is going to push up you have to make sure you force the attacker offside. If not you will have to defend with more effectiveness than one of the Easter Island statues. The first goal no one would have stopped.

At least England decided to do all they could to help us.

As for the poster who asked if there is anything that can be done, not really. The referee could and should be pulled from the tournament. There is precedent for that and the fact he isn't owning up to his mistake is an issue. Even that umpire that ruined the perfect game owned up to his mistake. The only thing that can be appealed are cards, and it is pretty rare that those are overturned unless it was obviously a mistake. I think Findley's card is something that can be overturned since allowing the ball to ricochet off of your face isn't really against any laws of the game.

 

[PixieDust32]

I was thinking the same think, it was like the baseball game from a couple weeks ago, when the umpire ruined a perfect game from Armando Galarraga

Thanks for answering my question, it was so unfair and the anti-american idiots making fun of it didn't help

 

[FireDancer]

I was thinking the same think, it was like the baseball game from a couple weeks ago, when the umpire ruined a perfect game from Armando Galarraga

Thanks for answering my question, it was so unfair and the anti-american idiots making fun of it didn't help

Unfortunately bad calls happen. Look at the bright side, maybe we'll get a Russian linesman for Algeria and then we won't even have to really score to get a goal

 

[PixieDust32]

Unfortunately bad calls happen. Look at the bright side, maybe we'll get a Russian linesman for Algeria and then we won't even have to really score to get a goal

I know my DD plays sports and it sucks when the refs make bad calls. Oh well, you right, we might get lucky like that.

Our team has done an amazing job, even better than some "almighty" teams like Spain, England etc, with all their super stars. We are so so proud of them.

 

[joviroxx]

To make this right, all he had to do was come forward, say what he thought he saw, and say that he made a mistake. We all make mistakes. His unwillingness to admit as much means that either his ego is too large to be allowed to officiate any longer in these matches, or he has another agenda.

Im not sure if Im right, so someone correct if so, but as I understand it, Referees are forbidden by FIFA to comment after games. I dont think he is allowed to speak about it.

I also think I read somewhere that there was a prearranged interview with all refs set for Monday. This has been planned for a while. Maybe he'll say something then.

Bottom line, yes it was a bad call, bear hugs, headlocks and all!! but the US needs to stop putting themselves in this position of having to play from behind. They cant just wait until their backs are against the wall before they pull out their A game.

 

[PixieDust32]

Referee Koman Coulibaly Could Face Expulsion From World Cup

http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2010/06/18/referee-koman-coulibaly-could-face-expulsion-from-world-cup/

I read somewhere else that he took money, bribery something like that.

 

[Cat0727]

I'm not surprised if the ref took some money under the table lol. But anyway if this was done against another team would everyone be making such a big deal? I think not. No one cares about soccer in this country. I don't get when the World Cup runs around ppl think the US is entitled to beat everyone automatically Just sayin'...

 

[joviroxx]

I'm not surprised if the ref took some money under the table lol. But anyway if this was done against another team would everyone be making such a big deal? I think not. No one cares about soccer in this country. I don't get when the World Cup runs around ppl think the US is entitled to beat everyone automatically Just sayin'...

Who is running anywhere thinking that the US should beat everyone automatically? You have a bunch of Americans commenting on a US match....

 

[PixieDust32]

If this had happened to Argentina, Brazil or Mexico OMG! Hell would had broke lose and trust me riots and crazy things would had happened.

 

[Took]

Much better officiating today. Enjoyed the Denmark-Cameroon game just to see the Cameroonian passion. Play was very sloppy, however. I don't know how any team wins with as many mistakes as Denmark made (except when they're playing Cameroon with 20+ shots on goal and only one point).

Looking forward to June 23. Go USA! Go Germany!

 

[DisneyFed]

I'm going to be in a minority here, buuuuut......I agree the call on us was HORRENDOUS....however, I will (painfully) agree with one of the commentators (may have been Lalas, can't remember) that the Referee did not score Two Goals on us......

Like someone else said, at least England helped us out---unintentionally I'm sure

 

[PixieDust32]

The whole match was terrible, it was like football and not soccer, the other team were grabbing, pushing and no calls on them, it was a stinky game for us.

 

[FireDancer]

I'm not surprised if the ref took some money under the table lol. But anyway if this was done against another team would everyone be making such a big deal? I think not. No one cares about soccer in this country. I don't get when the World Cup runs around ppl think the US is entitled to beat everyone automatically Just sayin'...

Actually there are quite a few people who watch soccer year round, World Cup or not. We have 2 stations that play nothing but soccer programming 24/7 and a 3rd that has about 90% of their programming dedicated to soccer. It gets more mainstream coverage during the World Cup but from October through May I know plenty of soccer bars throughout the country that are packed for EPL, Serie A, and La Liga games and I average about 6 full matches a weekend during the season (not including the Champions League).

It looks like no one watches the sport when you compare the numbers to the NFL, college football, MLB, and the "big" sports but there is a pretty big soccer community in this country. More tickets were sold to Americans for this World Cup than any other nation. It doesn't mean they all support America, many support the nation they came from or their parents came from, but they are still Americans.

If the same call had been against England, Spain, Italy, or anyone else people in those countries would care about it just as much as we do and would talk about it on their message boards and blogs. Look at all the press the Rooney Red Card got 4 years ago. No one thinks we are entitled to beat everyone, but the result should indicate what actually happened.

Im not sure if Im right, so someone correct if so, but as I understand it, Referees are forbidden by FIFA to comment after games. I dont think he is allowed to speak about it.

This is true. After every game the 4 officials have to write a match report that describes in depth the decisions they make regarding cautions, sendings off, disallowed goals, any abusive behavior from players, coaches, or fans, and anything else relevant to the match. If there is going to be a statement it will come from FIFA, not the official, at least not for a while. The referee from the the Portugal - Netherlands game last year came out and spoke about the match a couple of months after the World Cup because of all the flack he got from the press and even FIFA.

 

[moon]

I'm not surprised if the ref took some money under the table lol. But anyway if this was done against another team would everyone be making such a big deal? I think not. No one cares about soccer in this country. I don't get when the World Cup runs around ppl think the US is entitled to beat everyone automatically Just sayin'...

It's normal that Americans would be upset over having the game robbed against the American team. Every nation would react the same way to their own team. However, I've heard commentators from other countries (Chile, Argentina, Mexico) who made a big deal over the disallowed goal. It was clearly one of the worse (if not the worst) in this World Cup.

As for people "thinking the US is entitled to beat everyone automatically" I don't even know where you get that idea from.....

I'm going to be in a minority here, buuuuut......I agree the call on us was HORRENDOUS....however, I will (painfully) agree with one of the commentators (may have been Lalas, can't remember) that the Referee did not score Two Goals on us......

Like someone else said, at least England helped us out---unintentionally I'm sure

Yeah, it would have been better to not have received any goals. But the point is that it was a great comeback, scored 3 legit goals, and it should have been a clear and clean victory of 3-2 . The US deserved its 3 points.

 

[PeeTee]

Does anyone know the opening time of the ESPN bar at the Boardwalk. We are hoping to see the England v Slovenia Match on Wednesday, but not sure if they will be open in the morning?