The Botched U.S. - Algeria Offside (2)
Q. Two games in a row?
A. From the point of view of the U.S. team, it is as though those two things happened on consecutive nights.
And then everybody started arguing that the umps were doing the best they could :- )
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Q. Anything else?
A. The definition of a "weak" call in sports, is when Randy Moss kicks Marcus Trufant's butt fair-and-square on a play ... but then Trufant looks to the ref to bail him out. Hey, I think maybe his toe stepped on the line back there!
The disallowed U.S. goal came on a play in which the U.S. scored a thunderous point-blank goal to break the Algerians' back early in the game. If there had been no refs, if it had been sandlot, the Algerians would have slunk away in shame.
The botched call reversed an attack on which the Algerians were fairly trounced.
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Q. How was the refereeing CREW?
A. The head referee, the one on the field, no complaints there.
If anything, the U.S. got a bit the best of it in terms of actual calls, but I don't know. Algeria might have been throwing 80% of the elbows and getting 60% of the calls. I'd like to hear a soccer-savvy fan assess that for me.
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I love the fact that the U.S. doesn't dive near as much as other teams. Clint Dempsey got knocked down, his face bloodied, and got back up snarling to compete harder. Rare to see a U.S. player dive after, or whine about, rough play.
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Q. Leaving us where?
A. The U.S. (in effect) won two games and tied one ... and came an eyelash from being sent home in favor of Slovenia.
Hey, that's football, right? :- ) The refereeing muddies the water some. Learn to live with it.
Not Dr. D. If the refs are going to randomize a sport so that I have no idea where the script is going today, well...
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The Premier League is mercifully free of most of these types of shenanigans. And perhaps as Team U.S.A. gathers more respect for the state of its game, it will duck more of these bullets.
In the meantime, that's three group games and two game-deciding goals overturned. You can only shake your head in admiration for the way the U.S. team responded to that. They're winning the affections of fans worldwide.
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Cheers,
Dr D
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