It is currently half-time of Match 51 of the World Cup and the score is Germany 2, England 1. This is a perfectly feasible score of a match between the two rivals. However, there is a problem.
After spotting Germany two goals, England roared back to score on a nice header in the 37′ and a second goal, a nice chip off the top crossbar, in the 38′.
The score at halftime: Germany 2, England 1.
Do you see the problem? Everyone else does. It doesn’t add up.
Football fans in attendance at Mangaung/Bloemfontein see the problem. Teammates and coaching staff members of both squads see the problem. The world-wide television audience sees the problem. The announcer on Spanish channel Univision who sang GOL! GOL! GOL! GOL! — he sees the problem.
What was a thrilling match between two historic teams (in a traditional knock-out round match-up) suddenly became tainted. For the rest of the first half after the second goal by England in the 38′ minute, only loud booing was heard. No vuvuzelas blew. Only booing from the crowd.
Maybe England must pay for the likes of David Beckham and Mick Jagger. It appears it has all been planned in advance.
However the match turns out, one thing is clear: if Germany does not win the match by two goals (which they very well might — Germany is certainly the superior squad), the match will go down in history as tainted. This is exactly the type of excitement the World Cup cultivates.
All in the name of tradition we can not have video review of blown calls or blown non-calls. The qualifications of the refereeing staff that missed the call that everyone else saw, should be questioned. Disciplinary action? Well, we’ll see. Don’t get your hopes up.
Arguing for the usage of video replay is to remove the human error; human error that is rife with corruption, manipulation, foul-play, extortion, scandal, bribery.
We want to retain the tradition of injustice. If no injustice then no beauty.
It is certainly difficult to stomach here in the U.S., where it is morning and I have not even finished my coffee. I would be much more apt to handle injustice in the afternoon or evening hours.
So FIFA World Cup says No to video review: no one human is perfect. No stadium of human beings is perfect. We can analyze the goal that was ruled no goal at any angle and see that it should have been called a goal.
From the imperfect (and traditional) human angle, however, and defying all reason, there was no goal.
Welcome to the World Cup where fans world-wide are traditionally involved.
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Update: Well, Germany scored two additional goals in the 2nd half (ruled officially and correctly as goals), which gave them a 4-1 victory over England. We knew it would be a long-shot for England to win this match. The poor officiating on England’s goal certainly drained any momentum England might have gained. England’s players looked as if they wanted to get to the pub to drain their sorrow — they looked drained. And who can blame them? The air taken out of their hope for an upset! With the embedded tradition of human error then, we can surmise the pillaging of suspense is for good reason — to keep us involved well after the match has concluded. Underdogs need only so much to hope for and at least we have something to talk about. Case in point: Ghana, the sole African team to escape the pillaging of suspense thus far.
