Opinion, commentary and humour on fantasy English Premier League football, the English Premier League, Major League Soccer and international football. From people who should know... better.
There was no offside call, linesman flags never went up. If anything we shoulda gotten a PK out of it with the 3 bear hugs going on. This is what bugs me about FIFA, they claim to love this controversy, monarchy sport. Hand of God, Henry handball, Torsten Frings handball, etc... It's just another anti-American ref, simple as that. Happens all hte time on the world stage.
@Steve - i don't think the ref was anti-american, I just think he was absolutely horrendous (but so were we in the first half). but a great comeback and a great win (even though technically we didn't win)
@bean- I really was expecting a bad call against us, since most refs seem to hate us. I just didn't think it be something that horrendous. Really, watch all the questionable calls against he US on international stages (and the olympics for that matter). Of course you can argue that we should have never been in that position in the first place but the fact of the matter is we came back and got the go-ahead goal only for it to be taken away. Though, I did not celebrate for the goal since I heard the whistle as the ball was in the air. So in that sense it's not like the ref disallowed the goal after it was in, the foul was called when the ball was in the air after Donovan kicked it. Bottom line is this could turn off a lot of would-be soccer fans who might have gotten into it had we actually won. Your lose FIFA.
the USA's fight back and continued nice passing game, has gained lots of fans of the US down here in brasil. this is my first world cup in a country that, actually gives a damn about the world's best and greatest sport, as well as its most intense competition. the brasileiros are, incredibly knowlegible about the sport. they can spot a good team and a bad team, along with good players and bad players. any team the plays well offensively, except for argentina, they will talk about at the water cooler. this had led to a respect for the US for getting the result against england and getting the win against slovenia. i am more proud about the US team living down here than in the states.
I completely agree. The ref was dreadful. But he was getting wrong calls both ways. USA started very physically, and he allowed it throughout the first half. (If I remember correctly Dempsey’s first two aerial challenges ended with him landing an elbow on opponents face…not even a yellow!?). It seems he tried to stomp down on the physical play in the second half (hence the 3 yellow cards when we were more on the defense and trying to match your physicality). And for the third goal he probably tried to stay with his criteria. There was a lot of argy bargy in the box (admittedly done by the Slovenian defenders) and he blew the whistle (again wrongly). What I’m trying to say is that the disallowed goal was not the only call he got wrong. And the ones he got wrong were not always in our favor. I still think it was one of the better games of the cup so far. And I still hope that USA and Slovenia both progress trough to last 16!
seriously der was no foul or offside at all, the refereeing so far has been direful
ReplyDeleteGosh, devastating...even though we got the draw, the ref stole the win from us. We still have a chance to advance.
ReplyDeleteto be honest, you're american and we just don't like you
ReplyDeleteThere was no offside call, linesman flags never went up. If anything we shoulda gotten a PK out of it with the 3 bear hugs going on. This is what bugs me about FIFA, they claim to love this controversy, monarchy sport. Hand of God, Henry handball, Torsten Frings handball, etc... It's just another anti-American ref, simple as that. Happens all hte time on the world stage.
ReplyDeleteSteve
@nerkul - who's we?
ReplyDelete@Steve - i don't think the ref was anti-american, I just think he was absolutely horrendous (but so were we in the first half). but a great comeback and a great win (even though technically we didn't win)
ReplyDeleteAgreed, horrible ref. Watching England play is like watching France play...
ReplyDelete@bean- I really was expecting a bad call against us, since most refs seem to hate us. I just didn't think it be something that horrendous. Really, watch all the questionable calls against he US on international stages (and the olympics for that matter).
ReplyDeleteOf course you can argue that we should have never been in that position in the first place but the fact of the matter is we came back and got the go-ahead goal only for it to be taken away.
Though, I did not celebrate for the goal since I heard the whistle as the ball was in the air. So in that sense it's not like the ref disallowed the goal after it was in, the foul was called when the ball was in the air after Donovan kicked it.
Bottom line is this could turn off a lot of would-be soccer fans who might have gotten into it had we actually won. Your lose FIFA.
Steve
the USA's fight back and continued nice passing game, has gained lots of fans of the US down here in brasil. this is my first world cup in a country that, actually gives a damn about the world's best and greatest sport, as well as its most intense competition.
ReplyDeletethe brasileiros are, incredibly knowlegible about the sport. they can spot a good team and a bad team, along with good players and bad players. any team the plays well offensively, except for argentina, they will talk about at the water cooler. this had led to a respect for the US for getting the result against england and getting the win against slovenia. i am more proud about the US team living down here than in the states.
Very nice report, Greg. Thank you for that perspective.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Slovenia
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. The ref was dreadful. But he was getting wrong calls both ways.
USA started very physically, and he allowed it throughout the first half. (If I remember correctly Dempsey’s first two aerial challenges ended with him landing an elbow on opponents face…not even a yellow!?).
It seems he tried to stomp down on the physical play in the second half (hence the 3 yellow cards when we were more on the defense and trying to match your physicality). And for the third goal he probably tried to stay with his criteria. There was a lot of argy bargy in the box (admittedly done by the Slovenian defenders) and he blew the whistle (again wrongly).
What I’m trying to say is that the disallowed goal was not the only call he got wrong. And the ones he got wrong were not always in our favor.
I still think it was one of the better games of the cup so far. And I still hope that USA and Slovenia both progress trough to last 16!