I've never watched so much football in my life! I've seen at least one, sometimes two games each night for the last week, and this will continue until the end of June (well, ok, once we're done with the group stage, there's only one game per day).
I've seen some very entertaining footie, and a lot more goals than you might expect. I've also witnessed some outrageous shirt-pulling, body-hugging, arm-barring, hair-pulling, pushing, shoving and anything else deemed necessary to stop your opponent from reaching the ball. Either all of this kind of stuff is now legal, or I have better eyesight than the match officials. The latter might be true, actually, given that professional quality TV cameras now cost €5.95 for six, and there are probably a dozen cameras filming each match; all with the benefit of slow-motion action replay.
The poor referee and his mates only have four pairs of eyes to rely on.
A couple of days ago I saw a pretty blatant example of this wrestle-ball, but I can't remember which game it was. Two guys were racing for the ball. One of them realised he had no chance of getting it, so he just pushed his opponent over. He got one of those lovely yellow cards for his pains, but surely he should have been sent off?
In the dying minutes of last night's match between CzechRep and Turkey, the Turkish goalie was sent off for doing something very similar. He seemed to be astonished at the punishment. I think it might be time for video evidence to be used during games whenever a questionable situation arises, because the simple fact is that match officials simply cannot see everything that happens. The mantra that 'the referee's decision is final, even if it's wrong', is outmoded and unfair in this technological age.
My 2 centimos' worth.
UPDATE
I forgot to mention the bizarre booking of a non-participating player last night (either a substitute or a player who had been taken off). But 10 minutes ago, I watched in disbelief as the managers of Austria and Germany were dismissed from the sidelines and had to go sit in the stands! Unreal. And I have no idea why that happened.
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2 comments:
If they would do away with the jersey pulling it would be a cleaner game and more goals would be scored. It should be an automatic red card. I also think that if a player feigns an injury, he should be required to sit on the sidelines for 5 minutes while he regains his composure. The phony fouls make the game look fucking stupid.
While I'm on the subject, why not control offsides electronically? It's mis-called so frequently, often having enormous repercussions on the game's outcome.
I was absolutely appalled by Cristiano Ronaldo's lousy broken leg simulation early in the second half of last night's game between Portugal and Germany. The little tinker should definitely have been sent off for that.
The offside rule is just bloody stupid and unworkable. Better to change it or scrap it altogether.
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