27 June - Soccer City Joburg - Argentina vs Mexico

Another Blind Linesman !




They say that great things come to people who wait. Well I am now officially tired of waiting Mr Joseph S Blatter. You had a good laugh at Ireland's expense back in November as you insisted that football didn't need technology but rather needed the drama and excitement of human error and contested decisions. Tell that to the poor linesman who ran the line in Bloemfontein today and made the biggest bloop since....well, since the Thierry Henry handball.

How could he not give that as a goal ? Watching it in full frontal on tv it was obvious that the ball had crossed the line. You could see clearly from the trajectory of the ball that it had crossed the line. How on earth could you miss it Mr Linesman, given that you were side on? If there was any benefit of the doubt it should have gone the attacker's way.










So here we go again. Another major World Cup match significantly influenced by an appalling refereeing error. I don't care that England were shite today, and indeed throughout this entire tournament. For 5 minutes today they were world class and had Germany on the ropes. If that 2nd goal had been allowed there is no way that Germany would have run away with it. They might have won, but it would have been them, and not England,  who were forced to go forward and therefore susceptible to the counter attack.

So. while Sepp Blatter paternalistically protects those dinner table and barroom debates, your average football fan fumes ! How difficult is it, Mr Blatter, to install Hawkeye, or whatever device it is that they use at Wimbledon ? One beep, that's all, just one beep and we would have had a fair outcome today. As it is, we thank God that Germany won 4-1 so that we don't have to feel that this World Cup has been prejudiced. But it has been prejudiced, last November in Paris, and again today in Bloemfontein.

Rant over.

What about the game we went to last night ? Argentina really do keep getting better and they really could go all the way...and Messi hasn't even scored yet. As they say, successful people get their timing right.

And yes I do know that their first goal was a mile offside. More reason to start using technology.

Argentina vs Germany is the right match-up for the quarter final, and we're going to see it on Saturday. They have been 2 of the best 3 teams of the tournament so far (the other one being Spain).

Soccer City is an awesome venue, so vast it knocks you sideways. Pitch looking a bit worn though. Looks like Wimbledon Centre Court in week 2. Hope they can sort that out before the final.

Great day with old friends Jen and Claude and their kids yesterday. Took the train to Soccer City. Much better than going by car. Station is right there at the stadium, and the view on the approach is magnificent.