The Luddites will re-examine their position
In the wake of the controversial refereeing decisions over the weekend FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has now promised to re-open the discussion on the use of goal line technology. FIFA had previously closed the case on the discussion.
The issue gained renewed scrutiny on Sunday in the England-Germany game when a Frank Lampard shot hit the German cross bar and landed inside the goal before bouncing out into the arms of German ‘keeper Neuer. No goal was given.
Had the goal stood England would have pulled even with the Germans at 2-2. Would it have changed the outcome of the match? Probably not, since the English stunk and the Germans were good. But who knows? A 2-2 scoreline would at least have shifted the thinking of the managers with regard to strategy.
Later that same day a Carlos Tevez strike for Argentina against Mexico was clearly offside. The .jpg)
referee and his assistants missed it, but the replay on the stadium’s giant screen showed the offside and that resulted in Mexican demands for justice. Tevez’s goal was allowed to stand, however. (Imagine yourself in the shoes of referee Rosetti or his assistants; just because they are the match officials doesn’t mean they are ACTUALLY blind, so chances are they can see the replay on the big screen too, and they can see they’ve blown it. Yet they can’t do the right thing,…their hands are tied by FIFA!)
Blatter now says the matter of goal line technology will be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the International FA Board, the group that decides the game’s laws. However, only goal line technology will be up for discussion; controversial decisions such as the Tevez offside won’t be included in the discussions.
The last two Round of 16 matches concluded today
Paraguay-Japan
Neither Japan nor Paraguay had ever reached the quarter finals of the World Cup so the winner of this match was setting sail into uncharted waters. The winner turned out to be Paraguay after the South Americans beat Japan 5-3 on penalty kicks following a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes of regulation play and 30 minutes of overtime.
Just as neither squad had ever reached a World Cup quarter final, neither had ever been forced to finish a World Cup match on penalty kicks. Such is the price of a play-it-cautious approach to the game, which both teams surely exhibited today.
Spain-Portugal
Portugal’s tight defense gave up just one goal in this World Cup. Unfortunately for them it knocked them out of the tournament.
David Villa’s 63rd minute strike gave Spain a 1-0 victory over Iberian neighbors. Villa was always dangerous from the left with numerous efforts that tested the Portuguese defense. The goal, when it came, resulted from a back heel pass from Xabi Hernandez.
Upon collecting Xabi’s pass Villa’s first attempt was low and Portuguese ‘keeper Eduardo did well to block it but the ball rebounded to Villa, who made no mistake with his second bite of the apple, popping it over Eduardo into the roof of the net.
Was Villa offside? It was a desperately close thing but the referee’s assistant saw no infraction.
Spanish superstar Fernando Torres initially looked on form, testing Eduardo with a curling shot only minutes after the game started. Ultimately, however, Torres had little impact and was subbed in the second half.
Portuguese captain and superstar Christiano Ronaldo, was another from whom much was expected today and from whom little was delivered. Ronaldo ends his World Cup with only one goal, and that from the 7-0 pasting of North Korea.
The game was marred by the sending-off of Ricardo Costa for a supposed elbow to the head of Spanish defender Joan Capdevila, but video replays failed to reveal what the ref saw.
Bungling Refs Going Home
The AP reports that the two refs responsible for Sunday’s blunders (see “The Luddites will reexamine their position” above) have been left off the list of World Cup 2010 referees going forward.
No reason was given for the cutting of Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda (bungled the England-Germany
game) or Italian Roberto Rosetti (bungled the Argentina-Mexico game).
Others cut were Mali's Koman Coulibaly (bungled the USA-Slovenia game) and Frenchman Stephane Lannoy (bungled the Brazil-Ivory Coast game).
No word on that Spanish ref-- Alberto Undiano by name--who was handing out yellow cards like lollipops in the Germany-Serbia game and sent off Miroslav Klose for a minor offense.
The Quarter Final Bracket
Four South American teams, three European and one African will compete in the quarter-finals:
Friday July 2:
Netherlands vs. Brazil
Uruguay vs.Ghana
Saturday July 3:
Argentina vs. Germany
Paraguay vs. Spain
