WOW FIFA REFS!

[TaiidanTomcat]

The US/Slovenia match wasn't the only one with ****-poor calls being made.

FIFA joins the US Census and Yellow Pages as being annoyingly outdated. I can file my taxes online, but I can't fill out my census form online? Waste of a lot of paper and printing/distribution costs right there and I promise you, if I didn't file my taxes, the IRS would have no trouble finding me. The internet and mobile apps have replaced the Yellow Book, yet every year I get one on my doorstep, only to go right into the recycling bin. If I need a phone number, a quick voice search (or swype type if I'm in public) and I've got the number I'm looking for. I know that not everyone uses such tech (my dad) and if they want a Yellow Book, then fine. They should get one. But give me the option top opt out. The only reason I'm getting one is so they can sell ad space in it.

FIFA refuses to bring instant replay into the game. Bad calls like Coulibaly's are bad for the game; it builds animosity towards the league and the sport. Multiple cameras around the field to record the action from every angle, replay the last 5-10 seconds, officials on the sidelines review the footage and correct bad calls. It doesn't have to be in every play, just the major game plays (such as the one in question here)

It won't slow down the game (the game stops when the official makes a call anyway), it won't make the game vanilla or boring. If anything, maybe it'll "encourage" some of the refs to get their act together lest they lose their jobs for poor performance. And football's only the biggest sport on the planet, so don't tell me "it's too expensive"

Still, it won't happen.

FIFA isn't allowing Coulibaly to explain his call and they've revealed themselves to be archaic and arrogant in the process. If they have to answer questions, it challenges their authority over the sport (see Ireland/France and their comments about the "purity" of the game)They would prefer it if this matter is not even brought up again (which reminds me of an organization based in Rome that has faced some in-house problems with their staff. "Oh, we'll just move him somewhere else. You're not going to do that again are you? OK, good.").

US interest in football is really high. Sure, there are the fair weather fans who'll go away after the World Cup, but still, we're seeing a growth in FCs here. FIFA - who is being managed by dinosaurs in the tar pit - and their actions only serve to harm the sport.

Agreed. I know "not everything should be like the NFL" but American Football has SEVEN referees, to track the same amount of players. Might at the very least stop some of the flops which look brutal from one perspective, and yet they never even touch in another perspective.

[Tomcat Fan]

The USA team played like GENTLEMEN, the SLOVENIANS played like THUGS.

:)

Well If US team realy played like you said, how come 1 of Slovenian players had to be carried from the filed, with broken ankle?? If you frow yourself right infront of the player, so he fell over... not much of a gentelman play here...

Also you are all asking why the ref disallowed your 3rd goal.. go and whac replay how many fouls where made in last attack? and during 1 ref blow the vissle, but any way US team continue to play...

just my 5 cents..

[big fatty]

Well If US team realy played like you said, how come 1 of Slovenian players had to be carried from the filed, with broken ankle?? If you frow yourself right infront of the player, so he fell over... not much of a gentelman play here...

Also you are all asking why the ref disallowed your 3rd goal.. go and whac replay how many fouls where made in last attack? and during 1 ref blow the vissle, but any way US team continue to play...

just my 5 cents..

I saw what your talking about and it was the Slov. player that went for a kick at the ball and his leg hit the American player, how was that the US players fault? I say drink more milk growing up and aim for the ball not another players leg or body. Not sure what game you are watching.........

Edited June 19, 2010 by big fatty

[caiotfjr]

Meaning a Slovenian penalty...NOT a penalty against the United States, correct?

Now excuse my lack of knowledge in the rules in this case.....but if the defending team commits a penalty on a scoring play, should that nullify the goal or should it stand?

Yes, a penalty commited by the slovenian player over Michael Bradley, when he "hugged" the american player. So, a penalty FOR US.

Football board rules determines that the referee cannot wait for the conclusion of a play (advantage rule) whenever a penalty has been commited. The penalty has to be appointed.

We will never know what the referee scored, as he didn't marked a goal nor a penalty for US...

[cheese]

My 2 cents, it was because it was a US team.

I especially love the comment from the 2 guys on this thread that seem to have watched a different game.

Happy modeling!!!

[PNW_Modeler]

Also you are all asking why the ref disallowed your 3rd goal.. go and whac replay how many fouls where made in last attack? and during 1 ref blow the vissle, but any way US team continue to play...

I see your five cents and raise you a buck.

I did watch the replay....and counted a total of five fouls. All committed by players in white jerseys. Like I mentioned....I'm a little rusty, but last time I checked, head locks and holding a guys arms behind his back were not considered part of the game.

[Sebastijan]

hehe you guys are funny...

obviously knowing little of football and all being smart. about the dissallowed goal - it's debatable, but actually there's always a lot of struggle in the penalty box in this kinds of situations - you'll have to look at more games to understand that but the catch is that this was the game of halves.

First half was Slovenian - the assault on US was such that the team was hardly breathing and couldn't respond any other way than with hard game.

After the brake, the roles changed, the USA team striking hard and Slo team living in illusion of 2:0 win - after the first US goal, Slo team instead of playing more aggresivly, started to pull back in some sloppy defensive way and got punished for that.

Overall I see 2:2 score fair - Each team dominated half of the game.

just my two cents

Seb, a Slovenian who cheers for team England since 1986

[Platypus]

hehe you guys are funny...

obviously knowing little of football and all being smart. about the dissallowed goal - it's debatable, but actually there's always a lot of struggle in the penalty box in this kinds of situations - you'll have to look at more games to understand that but the catch is that this was the game of halves.

First half was Slovenian - the assault on US was such that the team was hardly breathing and couldn't respond any other way than with hard game.

After the brake, the roles changed, the USA team striking hard and Slo team living in illusion of 2:0 win - after the first US goal, Slo team instead of playing more aggresivly, started to pull back in some sloppy defensive way and got punished for that.

Overall I see 2:2 score fair - Each team dominated half of the game.

just my two cents

Seb, a Slovenian who cheers for team England since 1986

Probably the best comment on this topic.

It always feel like a robbery when "your" team is denied a victory in a non fair manner.

Speak to the Irish who saw the World Cup disappear because a French player scored with his hand....

How lame do I feel seeing the poor results of French team.

Anyway, soccer/football nowadays is really a game of seek and hide with the ref.

Too much holdings in the box are not enforced. Either by a yellow/red card or by a free kick/penalty.

It sometimes help the referee to be very strict on the first foul, but then the club/team, the audience, the Football association will complain that the ref didn't let the play happen....

And as long as the video won't be used as a 4th ref, as in US football, soccer will be f*cked up.

Edited June 20, 2010 by Platypus

[HOLMES]

Just aside all this..ENGLAND play SLOVENIA I think sometimes next week..I wonder how that will go....

I wonder if they will have an Argentinian Referee presiding over the match.......

Edited June 20, 2010 by HOLMES

[HomagerMan]

FIFA are looking into changes in the ref situation. They will never have instant replay as it will slow the game down too much. Football is a free flowing game of 45 mins per half. If the ref has to check every decision on instant replay with will turn into a farce. I think it would turn out to be like American Football or Hockey with a pause every few mins to check if there was an infringement. I’m not trying to start something here as I enjoy American football but only when all the stops and starts are taken out.

In this year’s Europa League FIFA trialed a 4th/5th or even 6th official by having an official on each touch line as well as the side line. It seemed to work out quite well.

As for the French Player who used his hand to help France beat Ireland, I felt robbed at the time but looking back at the game one of our players was booked for using his hand trying to control the ball in the box. Anyway Ireland had a poor qualification period.

James

[TaiidanTomcat]

hehe you guys are funny...

obviously knowing little of football and all being smart. about the dissallowed goal - it's debatable, but actually there's always a lot of struggle in the penalty box in this kinds of situations - you'll have to look at more games to understand that ;) but the catch is that this was the game of halves.

If thats normal why did they disallow the goal? If that is how the game is played why did the ref blow the whistle at all? why not just allow the goal? Its not like we are screaming about a missed goal. We made the goal and he disallowed it. we aren't even asking for some phantom penalty kick, we just want the goal we scored while being manhandled. The goal we earned.

There is a lot of struggle in the penalty area on corner kicks but you would be hard pressed to say it was the usual amount of holding and shoving. Hugging and headlocking is a clear penalty and anyone who has any knowledge of the game knows that. especially considering the Referee gave a yellow card earlier after a ball hit the an American in the face then hit his hand... if that gets a yellow card, shouldn't any of the four fouls on the play warrant that?

If he isn't going to call that he should not have blown the whistle at all. So its 3-2. we win. A "No call" is fine with me... Instead he blows the whistle and says it doesn't count and no one can really see why. Not just Americans either. plenty of people from all over the world don't get that call.

Slovenia couldn't stop us even when they were cheating. pathetic. good things the refs were there to help or Slovenia would have blown a two goal lead... How embarrassing would that have been? as it stands now its still a draw.

Slovenia lost that game and they know it. whatever the ref says, they allowed three goals while only scoring two themselves.

I have to say after the first half of the Italy-NZ game it is clear -- I do know very little of football. NZ player grabs Italian player's shirt and its a penalty kick and yellow card. Slovenian player headlocks American and its the US at fault?

:D

Edited June 20, 2010 by TaiidanTomcat

[big fatty]

hehe you guys are funny...

obviously knowing little of football and all being smart. about the dissallowed goal - it's debatable, but actually there's always a lot of struggle in the penalty box in this kinds of situations - you'll have to look at more games to understand that :D but the catch is that this was the game of halves.

First half was Slovenian - the assault on US was such that the team was hardly breathing and couldn't respond any other way than with hard game.

After the brake, the roles changed, the USA team striking hard and Slo team living in illusion of 2:0 win - after the first US goal, Slo team instead of playing more aggresivly, started to pull back in some sloppy defensive way and got punished for that.

Overall I see 2:2 score fair - Each team dominated half of the game.

just my two cents

Seb, a Slovenian who cheers for team England since 1986

I know enough to know that i would be ashamed if my team gave up a 2-0 lead with a ref. that may of not wanted to see the U.S. team win. I would be following the money on this one, nod, nod, wink, wink.

[Raymond]

NZ ties against italy!!! bring on paraguay!

[ChernayaAkula]

<...> I do know very little of football. NZ player grabs Italian player's shirt and its a penalty kick and yellow card. Slovenian player headlocks American and its the US at fault?

Hey, but it's the Italians. Everything's different when they play. Suddenly, the idea of yellow-carding divers goes out the window. At least yellow-carding Italian divers. Actually, you have to wonder why half the Italian team isn't on crutches, since it's obviously so very hard for them to keep on two feet. :D Some of the Italians would make excellent Olympic platform divers. They got it down to an art.

Since they can't beat New Zealand in a fair way, they manage to scrounge a penalty, thus robbing the Kiwis of a sensational win.

[TaiidanTomcat]

Hey, but it's the Italians. Everything's different when they play. Suddenly, the idea of yellow-carding divers goes out the window. At least yellow-carding Italian divers. Actually, you have to wonder why half the Italian team isn't on crutches, since it's obviously so very hard for them to keep on two feet. :huh: Some of the Italians would make excellent Olympic platform divers. They got it down to an art.

Since they can't beat New Zealand in a fair way, they manage to scrounge a penalty, thus robbing the Kiwis of a sensational win.

Indeed!! Shame on the Ref for falling for it too. at one point New Zealand had 23 penalties called on them and only 4 called on the italians... and this was at the one hour mark. NZ isn't a dirty team. if it was you would see yellows with all those fouls. but it was just one of those I am hurt until the whistle fouls. it seemed that every ball NZ won in the air resulted in a downed italian player and a foul. Shameful, but the italians live up to a well earned reputation... a hard pet was more than enough to drop an them for agonizing seconds.

[NightDog]

Don't see how instant replay would have helped in the US 3rd goal situation. The referee's call was that the US fouled and the instant replay shows no foul. So what do you do then? The play is dead when the referee blows his whistle, so you really can't allow the goal which happened after the whistle blew. You can't really award a PK based on what else was going on in the box (assuming instant replay is just looking at the foul committed, not scanning the rest of the pitch for other infractions). So instant replay confirms the ref sucks - what can you do about it?

Where I see replay being useful is overturning some of the yellow/red cards post-match. There have been some bad cards given that are causing players to sit the next game. They should be able to contest cards and have the referee overturned so they can play if it is confirmed to be a poor call.

[Mumbles]

Indeed!! Shame on the Ref for falling for it too. at one point New Zealand had 23 penalties called on them and only 4 called on the italians... and this was at the one hour mark. NZ isn't a dirty team. if it was you would see yellows with all those fouls. but it was just one of those I am hurt until the whistle fouls. it seemed that every ball NZ won in the air resulted in a downed italian player and a foul. Shameful, but the italians live up to a well earned reputation... a hard pet was more than enough to drop an them for agonizing seconds.

Its made worse by the national sport in NZ being rugby, where players generally only wind up staying on the ground if they are genuinely hurt and often have to pulled from the pitch rather than going off voluntarily (most famously/crazily when the captain of the national side played on after his scrotum had been ripped open, amongst other injuries). Being raised on watching rugby, I find it hard to get through a football match without yelling 'Get up you freaking pansy!' at least once.

That aside, drawing with Italy is probably the most significant international football result my country has ever had (at the moment the 'most significant' title is being revised from match to match since the team is consistently exceeding expectations and doing better than anyone thought we could). The tournament has been a hell of a ride for NZ so far. The only problem is that for us the games are on at about 2am, so watching them live is a bit of an effort, especially on a weekday.

[TaiidanTomcat]

Don't see how instant replay would have helped in the US 3rd goal situation. The referee's call was that the US fouled and the instant replay shows no foul. So what do you do then? The play is dead when the referee blows his whistle, so you really can't allow the goal which happened after the whistle blew. You can't really award a PK based on what else was going on in the box (assuming instant replay is just looking at the foul committed, not scanning the rest of the pitch for other infractions). So instant replay confirms the ref sucks - what can you do about it?

Just make a rule that all goals are reviewable. problem solved. He blew the whistle after the ball was kicked anyway. after a goal there is a natural delay of about a minute-- review it then.

Could also review that obvious hand ball in that goal Brazil scored this afternoon

Edited June 20, 2010 by TaiidanTomcat

[Wayne S]

Just aside all this..ENGLAND play SLOVENIA I think sometimes next week..I wonder how that will go....

I wonder if they will have an Argentinian Referee presiding over the match....... :lol: :wub:

Do just like any sport, If a team plays you ruff you play them ruff, just need to play smart and know where the ref is. You play the game "cards that are dealt", not the game you wish the other team would play and the ref's would referee.

Sorry to say it, Americans have a love affair with blaming refs when their team is going to lose or lost.

[big fatty]

Do just like any sport, If a team plays you ruff you play them ruff, just need to play smart and know where the ref is. You play the game "cards that are dealt", not the game you wish the other team would play and the ref's would referee.

Sorry to say it, Americans have a love affair with blaming refs when their team is going to lose or lost.

I take it that you didn't watch the game as you have no clue as to what you are talking about. It looks like pretty much most people around the world feel like the U S got screwed on a bad call. Well except a few Slovs. and yourself of course.

Edited June 21, 2010 by big fatty

[Wayne S]

I take it that you didn't watch the game as you have no clue as to what you are talking about.

I am pretty sure I know what I am talking about, I am not a simpleton.

I find it funny people bring up American football and instant replay. If they actually used it for everything and a ref was accountable for every penalty, there would be more then one penalty on every play and the game would never get played.

It looks like pretty much most people around the world feel like the U S got screwed on a bad call. Well except a few Slovs. and yourself of course.

Everyone in a competition get screwed by bad calls or a call that never happened, what is that saying, whining is for losers?

Edited June 21, 2010 by Wayne S

[caiotfjr]

Just make a rule that all goals are reviewable. problem solved. He blew the whistle after the ball was kicked anyway. after a goal there is a natural delay of about a minute-- review it then.

Could also review that obvious hand ball in that goal Brazil scored this afternoon

OK, you could do that. But there are other problems that no reviewing will solve, like the lack of criteria of the referee about Ivory Coast violence. At least 3 players should have been expelled from the matches for violent fouls. Instead, he expelled Kaka (from Brazil) for a disciplinary issue.

Stopping the game every time to review plays would turn football into another sport.

There are at least two solutions that might keep football being the same sport, while solving some problems:

1) Guidelines for the referees of how to act. For example, FIFA should appoint what is an "involuntarly touch" (the ball with hands) and what kind of fouls should be treated with a yellow card, with a red card, etc

2) Increasing the number of referres. My two cents are one referee in each field, plus one more behind each one the back lines, keeping the assistants at the lateral lines

Edited June 21, 2010 by caiotfjr