Friday, June 18, 2010

I've been a soccer referee a long time and in my opinion...

I became a soccer referee in 1988.  So you could say that I've been around the game a little bit. 

There was no foul or offside against the US, it was a goal.  (notice offside is singular?  You cannot be offsides in soccer, you can only be offside.)

Sorry US fans the Findley play was a handball.  Yes, it hit his head first and only glanced off his hand but he still got an advantage from it because it went right to his teammate.  Should it have been a card though?  No.  

The yellow that was issued against Suler, of Slovenia, right outside the box; should have been a Red Card because it denies an obvious goal scoring opportunity. 

I don't know the referee's name from that match but I bet he is demoted to 4th official for the rest of the Cup.

2 comments:

NMCLax24 said...

I agree completely! I said the same exact thing about the yellow card needing to be a red card. Also, on the 3rd US goal there should have been 3 or 4 clear penalties against Slovania. They tackled Bradley, and had Bocanegra and at least one more guy in bear hugs. Great game though!!!

Fuji said...

I don't know squat about soccer, except you can't use your hands (unless you're the goalie) and that you're suppose to kick the ball into the other team's goal. However, while listening to the game on the radio... I was truly bummed by the result. Go Team USA!