Phantom goal should lead to video technology

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England controversially denied a goal in round of 16 match at World Cup against Germany

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer looks at the ball that hit the bar to bounce over the line during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Germany and England at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Sunday, June 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Yesterday, June 27, 2010, a date which will live in infamy. Mark it in your calendars, for it’s the day that will go down in history as the one in which FIFA were finally forced to concede that video technology must be introduced at the highest level of the game.

Regardless of how impressive Germany’s rapid-fire football was in the second half of their 4-1 dismantling of England, the fact is that the complexion of the game changed thanks to one key moment in the first half.

Six minutes before half-time, England midfielder Frank Lampard sent a looping half-volley over the head of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and on to the underside of the crossbar.

The ball clearly bounced down over the line, yet the ‘goal’ was missed by both the referee and his so-called assistants.

It won’t have been missed in England – you can thank the ravenous English press for that – and just days after FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter once again dismissed the notion of video technology being introduced to the game, pressure must be brought to bear on the governing body for continuing to make decisions which, contrary to their grandiose declarations, are clearly not “for the good of the game.”

It’s a shame that a refereeing blunder will prove the major talking point, because it takes away from an excellent performance by an impressive German side.

I’m not quite sure why English fans were so confident going into the game – had they spent as much time thinking about Germany’s obvious counter-attacking abilities as they did spouting the usual clichés and dredging up the same old tired war songs – they might not have been, but in the end their confidence was clearly misplaced.

My fellow FourFourTwo.com columnist Andy Mitten recently argued that “England are the Aston Villa of football,” suggesting that an international team with so little depth has no chance of winning the World Cup.

And how coach Fabio Capello must look back and rue Robert Green’s howler against the USA – a goalkeeping error which cost England the chance to top the group and thereby avoid a Round of 16 clash against their arch-rivals Germany.

Yet Green is hardly the only villain of a mediocre campaign, and his 39-year-old replacement David James must be wondering how players of the calibre of Ashley Cole and John Terry can be made to look so ordinary by the likes of Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose.

I can give you one good reason: the English Premier League is the most overrated league in the world, and several members of the England squad would never have got a look in at some of the top international teams.

Whether there are too many foreign stars in the Premier League will once again come under scrunity, but a German side bristling with Bundesliga talent ultimately tore Capello’s men to shreds.

They were helped by a ludicrous goal on the twenty minute mark, as Neuer thumped a goalkick which Terry and the beleaguered Matthew Upson let bounce, allowing Miroslav Klose to use all his predatory instincts to poke home a simple opener.

Germany’s second was just as simple, and by the time English hearts had been broken thanks to their contentious disallowed strike just before the break, a second-half onslaught from the Germans was always on the cards.

So it is Joachim Löw’s side that marches on to a richly deserved quarter-final appearance, and in the form they’re in, it would take a brave soul to bet against Germany reaching the final in Johannesburg.

You can bet that video technology will be in use by Brazil 2014 as well.

On a night in which Germany proved their World Cup pedigree with a thumping win over the old enemy, Fabio Capello won’t be the only one having nightmares about the replay, with FIFA once again set to be bombarded with calls for video technology to be introduced at the World Cup.

Postscript: The Argentina-Mexico round of 16 match also had a controversial decision when Carlos Tevez scored the first goal of the game for Argentina from what was a clear offside position.

Referee Roberto Rosetti allowed the goal to stand despite the anger caused by a replay of the incident on the stadium’s giant screens.

Rossetti initially consulted with the linesman, seemingly seeking a second opinion, before ruling the goal legal, as players from both teams protested furiously. The goal stood and Argentina went on to win 3-1. Full details of the match HERE.

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman

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The Crowd Says (72) | Page 1 of Comments

Mega said | June 28th 2010 @ 2:22am | Report comment

Two debates will rage for a while:

1. Goal line technology.
2. Whether that goal would have changed the complexion of the game. Still think Germany would have torn apart England. England defence was poor and Rooney was nowhere to score a winner for England.

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Hobart said | June 28th 2010 @ 2:31am | Report comment

Good reporting, Mike. Well written. We should get you onto the rugby side of things.

Re. that phantom goal – in future, a chip the size of this dot (.) inserted into the ball is all that would be needed to tell whether or not the ball had crossed a sensitized line. You wouldn’t have to go to a visual replay. So easily done, but the purists think they’d be degrading a sacred game.

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Jim Bom said | June 28th 2010 @ 2:37am | Report comment

Maybe not necessarily technology but an adoption by FIFA of the UEFA initiative to have extra linesman behind the goal line as they did in the Europa Cup. Could be the middle ground compromise.

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dasilva said | June 28th 2010 @ 2:39am | Report comment

This is a copy and paste from the other thread about video referee.
So what I propose

Have a video referee to review every goal, penalties and send offs in a match
All of them are clearly stoppage in play so there’s no reason why this would cause unnecessary delays

Have a time limit for the video referee to rescind it. Give them 30 seconds for them to rescind the decision.
If it takes longer then 30 seconds and requires multiple replays. Obviously it’s too much of a shade of gray decision, then give the benefit of doubt to the referee decision. Fans don’t normally get outrage over line ball decisions, they normally get annoyed by blatant mistakes.

It won’t stop all referee mistakes but I believe it will reduce the error rate considerably. Also this could virtually eliminate diving without contact inside the penalty box as the video ref are allowed to advise the on field referee to hand out yellow cards for diving during the review.

Also in terms of this goal scored today. Every time the ball hits the cross bar and then bounce towards the goal and then out of the goal. The referee would have to be instructed by FIFA to call it a goal EVERY time

Unintentional effects?
We would never see a team scoring a goal on a counterattack after the ball hit the crossbar and bounce out of the goal ever again. Personally I think that’s an acceptable drawback to the introduction of video referee as the likelihood of an event like that happening is far more rare then a mistake by the referee missing a goal.

The referee are more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to attacking sides in terms of offsides and goal scored as they know that there is a ref who will review the decision. Although I personally think that’s a positive thing.

Other issues is that the ref may start blowing for penalties or be more card happy then usual and relying too much on the video ref for them to make decisions. This may unintentionally increase stoppages as refs are more likely to give out cards and penallties knowing that if they made a mistake the video ref is there to save them. This would require training and instruction from FIFA to make sure the referee gives out fouls as normal and not be too reliant on video referees.

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- Kick to kick said | June 28th 2010 @ 5:07pm | Report comment
  
  One option would be to give each manager a single video appeal per match against a ref’s decision. If the ref’s decision stands then the manager has used up the allotment. If the appeal shows the ref made a mistake, the manager keeps the appeal right . Thus only most important controversies hold the game up because the manager doesn’t want to waste his sole chance. But crazy decisions like the Lampard goal get reviewed. The ref should also be allowed to call for a replay if he/she is unsure what happened.
  
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  - dasilva said | June 28th 2010 @ 7:00pm | Report comment
    
    Although that’s not a bad idea
    
    I just don’t see the point to reduce it as a challenge idea when it can be more comprehensive without it. I also think that all decisions should be made by referees and not by managers.
    
    Have the 4th official watch the game just like the viewers do. If he sees a mistake from any goal scored or send off over-rule it.
    
    There’s really no fuss about it.
    
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Mega said | June 28th 2010 @ 2:41am | Report comment

What happened to the extra official in the UEFA Cup on the goal line? How did that work?

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- Dublin Dave said | June 28th 2010 @ 10:19am | Report comment
  
  That’s only for the Europa League and it was brought in by UEFA boss Michel Platini. It’s a kludgy half way house system but it’s the limit to which Platini could introduce some semblance of extra assistance for the existing three officials. As Platini’s influence extends only to the UEFA competitions, his views have no bearing on FIFA at large.
  
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Roger Rational said | June 28th 2010 @ 3:44am | Report comment

You can argue that there are too many foreign players in the EPL but it’s plain daft to claim that “the EPL is the most over-rated league in the world”. The EPL teams’ performance in the Champions League stacks up against anyone. The Bundesliga is second-rate in comparison. And as any top manager will tell you, the Champions League is a vastly superior tournament to the World Cup.

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- Mega said | June 28th 2010 @ 4:07am | Report comment
  
  But these EPL stars aren’t turning up to World Cups. Rooney, Lampard, Gerard did nothing. The season is too long and exhausting. While the rest of Europe has a break over Xmas the EPL is playing four to five fixtures. No wonder they are buggered and can’t last a WC.
  
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  - Roger Rational said | June 28th 2010 @ 4:10am | Report comment
    
    I agree. Also, I think the English players rely too heavily on their foreign team-mates. Also, the English press naturally focuses on the home-grown EPL players but it’s by no means obvious that John Terry is a better or more important player than, say, the completely over-looked Ricardo Carvalho.
    
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  - Colin N said | June 28th 2010 @ 6:46am | Report comment
    
    “But these EPL stars aren’t turning up to World Cups.”
    
    Quite, but it doesn’t mean the competition is overrated. If the English clubs and the English players within those clubs weren’t performing in that competition then the author would have a case, but they do perform and he doesn’t have a case.
    
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- whiskeymac said | June 28th 2010 @ 8:09am | Report comment
  
  Yeah i agree Mr Rational, purposefully provactive by Mike probably .
  
  The EPL is a good competiton with a high standard and has dominated in recent years however, in saying that, many of the english players who play in it are generally overated – but even those who are good enough to play anywhere (and are linked to the big over seas teams teams like frank lampard, cole, gerrard and rooney) just seem to fizzle out in the big comps. indivudually good but collectively brittle. the cliche about good teams beating good players seems to apply to these two teams more than any other.
  
  this however may change with Sir Trevor Brooking’s push to redefine how the game is played/ schooled and the player quotas. the development plans are not unlike the FFA’s dutch plans for teaching technique. but am sure that’s for another thread/ day.
  
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Roger Rational said | June 28th 2010 @ 4:07am | Report comment

Incidentally, it’s worth noting what a strange type of game this was. The general assumption about the England team is that they are solid in defence and dangerous when they attack quickly but not quite technically good enough to keep the ball for long periods and therefore prone to ceding too much possession and territory against top opponents.

If you look at EPL teams in the CL, that’s exactly how they play. Manchester United hammered Milan this year by playing on the counter and picking them off even though Milan were more than competitive in general play. The same thing happened to Roma a couple of years ago (7-1). When EPL teams fail, it’s generally because they get out-passed by teams like Barcelona.

But today England won 55.2% of the possession and were themselves destroyed on the counter. It was a complete role reversal and basically proves that Jurgen Klinsmann was telling the truth when he suggested in the English press that he and Low analysed the EPL to death and sought to incorporate aspects of the EPL into the German approach. Germany beat England today by playing Manchester United-style counter attacking football. So, pace Tuckerman, this was as much a victory for EPL-style football as it was a defeat.

It was much more of a defeat, imo, for the supposedly peerless Italian tactical approach. It took Mourinho to make a Serie A team competitive in the CL. And Capello obviously hasn’t noticed that the game has moved on and that the rapid counter is probably the most brutally effective tactic in contemporary football. It’s ironic that Fergie, supposedly a bit dodgy tactically, has attuned himself to the contemporary game whereas Capello, supposedly a tactical genius, seems stuck in the 1990s.

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- Mega said | June 28th 2010 @ 4:18am | Report comment
  
  Apart from Lampard, Rooney, Gerard and Terry, there are few other genuine EPL stars in the English national team.
  
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  - Roger Rational said | June 28th 2010 @ 4:27am | Report comment
    
    Perhaps – but you have to question why Ferguson is able to send out a predominantly British team to compete cleverly and brilliantly in the CL. Most of the top managers have concluded that 4-4-2 doesn’t work against top opposition. Benitez, Mourinho, Ferguson and Guardiola all play 4-3-3 or 4-5-1. Yet Capello, in his wisdom, sent England out to play 4-4-2.
    
    It might be that Capello was forced into 4-4-2 because he didn’t think Rooney was fit enough to play up front on his own. If so, it’s yet another reason for the EPL to cull 2 teams and introduce a winter break. Fergie worked Rooney into the ground last season and England have paid the price.
    
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    - whiskeymac said | June 28th 2010 @ 8:16am | Report comment
      
      capellos record suggests he is also a top manager. he has won a lot (not least as a player) as a coach in many comps and cultures at the biggest clubs and he got through the qualifiers easily enough. He had turned the team around after McClaren. England’s dramatic failure is puzzling in this respect. but not unknown or unsurprising, (the germans were excellent) – england has flattered to deceive for 40 years.
      
      but simply. someone had to lose and ever since they got to RSA the english team were crap. they reminded me of the same team coached by aussie Sven in 06 – 1-0 unconvincing wins and a team with promise never delivering.
      
      to say the game might have changed after 2-2 is probably true. but its the big “if”.
      
      it’s like us saying if cahill’s goal went in wld Pims negative German tactics resulted in a 1-0 or draw? or if we scored against ghana wld we have qualifed.
      
      if england had played like they are hyped to each time they wld be top of their group; have played ghana and so on and so on.
      
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Mega said | June 28th 2010 @ 6:55am | Report comment

Just watching the highlights on SBS and at the time of Lampard’s “goal” the momentum was with England. It would have been a different game at 2-2, but Germany should have got up.

Can’t wait to see what Sepp says.

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Al said | June 28th 2010 @ 7:26am | Report comment

England were utter sh*t, however at 2-2 the entire complexion of the game would have been different. If it were the krauts that got a goal like that disallowed Blatter would be on the phone to the video people right now to set something up for the next game, since FIFA hate England then its all ok.

Quite Frankly most of those English players should never wear an England shirt again.

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True Tah said | June 28th 2010 @ 8:23am | Report comment

Certainly looked like a goal to me, but I don’t think Blatter and the good old boys down at FIFA will ever admit they were wrong, when video technology is already used in rugby league, cricket, rugby union.

Having said thatm England’s performance was average, I certainly think they could learn a thing or two from the Socceroos about playing for your shirt, your team and your country. Does Wayne Rooney ever sing the national anthem?

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Phantom goal should lead to video technology

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