PAC 10 refs at the world cup?

[BoiseBYU]

Will someone please explain wht our last goal was called off!!!

[CougarClaw]

Same refs that gave the sLAcKERS their NBA win flew down last night to ref this game.

Not only were they blind with sleep, they had some extra money in their pockets.

[tmoney35]

worst call i've ever seen...in ANY sport. The worst part is, the ref wouldn't even say why the goal was called off when US players asked him what the foul was.

THE REF WOULDN'T EVEN SAY WHY HE CALLED OFF THE GOAL!!!!!!

[Schmoe]

That ref was a joke and an ass. It's one thing to get a few calls wrong, but to call the game so inconsistently both ways (yellow cards all day for Slovenia, fouls on the US every time we had a free kick into the box, the phantom yellow card hand ball which loses one of our starters for the next game, etc.) and then to be so freaking proud and indifferent not to explain anything to the players or coaches when he took away the game-winner. This guy was a butthole.

[snoscythe]

Now I remember why Americans ignore this sport.

[scott715]

How about the 3 US players that were hogtied during that same play? Was that the foul on us?

[Spudman87]

I love how after the match that the refs refused to comment on what the penalty was on the goal they didn't allow. I guess they decided that as long as they didn't offer an explanation, nobody could prove them wrong.

[CougarClaw]

at least there is partial justice in this world

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/ ... 901&ver=us

As much as we NFL'ers are used to explanations that's just not the soccer status quo. Refs don't have to explain themselves. Sucks.

I actually liked coach Bradley's best thought on what the foul was.

Bradley had his own theory: Coulibaly might have regretted his decision to award the free kick. Valter Birsa had been called or a foul on Steve Cherundolo.

I think this is the most logical explanation I've heard, because I believe the whistle was being blown almost as soon as the kick was off. Foul or not, he may have been trying to make up for an error and made a bigger one in the process.

[SpiffCoug]

Yeah, that's what I think too. You see this happen frequently in soccer. The ref makes a call for a free kick. Realizes he may have just changed the game for awarding a free kick in a very dangerous position. So they whistle for a foul on the kicking team and possession switches.

The problem was, this might have been the only free kick I've ever seen where only one team is doing all the holding, pushing and shoving. There was not one foul being committed by anyone wearing blue. In fact, the fouls were so egregious by Slovenia that the ref could have disallowed the goal more easily awarded four separate penalty kicks.

He choose to see something he didn't see, and like Claw said, made a bigger error in the process.

The US did get a break in early in the game for Dempsey's elbow. But regardless, there is no defense for this official and his extremely poor judgment. He cost the US two points.

The good news is the US didn't lose and then England went on to tie as well. So the US still completely controls their own destiny. Win and move it. It's pretty simple.