Specifically the Linesmen - has sucked hard core. Spain just got robbed of their second goal of the game, on a call that was mind-boggingly wrong. The Linesman was right on top of that play, but he blew it - how do you blow that call? Its horrible, this isn't some nebulous call on whether or not it was a foul, or whether he was offside when the ball was played(thats a hard call to make - keeping track of where the player is while paying attention to action 30 yards upfield, so I can understand if they muck that one up a few times), this is whether or not the ball crossed the line, and it didn't. And not only that, it wasn't even close! Spain should've won this game by now, hell, they have won this game. FIFA really needs to look into their refereeing, its been atrocious.
The officiating has been horrible. Not only should that goal have been allowed but that penalty kick that the South Korean goalkeeper saved should have also been retaken. The goalkeeper was way off his line.
But they did win - they scored in OT - the game should've been over right there. This isn't something as controversial as whether or not a foul should've been called, or something like that, its a very simple call - did that ball cross the line? It didn't, and not only didn't it - it wasn't even particularly close. I don't see how a World Cup Linesman misses that call, a call he's right on top of, just terrible refereeing.
Spain also missed so many close shots... If they connected on just 1 of them, the referee crying would be at a minimum.
But they did get robbed. That would have won the match. Sure I whine becuz I wanted Spain to win...but I'm man enuff to admit that Mexico got robbed on the handball, and the US was fortunate. Spain played their hearts out, and in 9 out of 10 games, they woulda won. Korea has just been very lucky (with a combo of endurance and home field advantage) to win their games. Luck is on their side...and Korea has a legit shot of winning it all.
Easy, to get Korea in semifinals, just like they gave them the game against Italy. The history in the World Cup is full of things like that. As long as the home team advances, they guarantee full crowds and more money. It´s ridiculous, but that´s the way it´s. Like any other major sport in the world, this is businees. Another example is the Brazil - Belgium. The goal by Belgium was absolutely legal, but Brazil sells a lot more, so any close call is gonna be in favor of Brazil. Or the call missed in the Germany - USA, that would´ve been the tie for USA.
I am a certified soccer ref. I haven't watched much of the World Cup, but from seeing replays on ESPN, it has become quit apparent to me that the refs, in general, have been doing a poor job. It shows that even on the highest level of refing, there are a lot of crummy refs. Refing soccer is not an easy task. A good percentage of calls made, right or wrong, are questionable. Like hand balls can be very close sometimes. If you have a bad angle on the play it is extremely hard to call. Also when another player trips someone else, it is hard to tell if the person tripped over the ball or over the person's foot or leg. The refs have been bad in the World Cup, but they are bad everywhere. I have reffed with terrible refs that don't call anything.
Wow and as a Hardcore NBA/Basketball fan, i thought the refs were doing pretty good jobs butttt they tended to miss the REALLLLLLLLLY big plays and get all the small ones. There better than some of the refs in years past in the NBA. FIFA WORLDCUP comes 4 times a year, and this is the ultimate competiton So we should only see the best OFFICIALs, right?? Its just stupid. Maybe we should see a ref from lets say Germany and one from United States, ref a game consisting of USA-Germany. Just a thought
once every 4 year actually....but ya...this is horiffic refereeing. that call against Totti in Italy-Korea was the worst....the referee was on the other side of the field, and he had the balls to send him off.. It's a damn shame.
hahaa. my bad. i meant once every 4 years. I could see that some NFL refs and NBA FINALS ref's are bad at some point, but even Olympic refs should be TOP NOTCH because of the world calibur events. There are over a half a million refs in the US alone. Why is it so hard to get good ones?
