2010 FIFA World Cup - Disallowed Goals Against the USA

The USA and England were favourites to advance from Group C. The USA qualified at the top of the group, but they almost did not. Some questionable and downright abysmal decisions by match officials went against the USA. The CONCACAF giants should have strolled to the top of the group. Instead, American players were just two minutes away from tumbling out of the World Cup. Some teams had to contend with harsh officiating and players receiving extraordinary red cards. The USA did not have to deal with that, but having two goals disallowed in a tight group almost cost them.

Disallowed goal - USA versus Slovenia

FIFA

Team USA was on a high after Robert Greene's goalkeeping gift gave them a point off England. They were two goals down in an ill-tempered affair that Malian referee Koman Coulibaly struggled to handle. The USA stormed back with two second-half goals by Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley. In the 85th minute, with the scores locked at 2-2, Donovan floated in a wonderful free kick that Maurice Edu redirected into the Slovenian goal. The US players rushed off to celebrate but Mr. Coulibaly spotted a foul against a Slovenian player in the penalty area. He blew his whistle a fraction of a second before Edu played the ball.

2010 FIFA World Cup - Disallowed Goals Against the USA

Replays indicated a lot of pushing and pulling in the penalty area between pairs of players, but the Slovenians appeared to be the protagonists in all cases. It was difficult to spot why Coulibaly made that call even after several replays. What made the decision more controversial is that Coulibaly did not indicate why he made the call. Some referees offer an acknowledgement or explanation, although they are not required to do that. There were clearly a number of infractions occurring in the penalty area, but the Americans did not appear to be doing anything that was not done to them far more.

Disallowed goal - USA versus Algeria

In the crunch match, the USA faced a must-win against Algeria. Midway through the first half, Fulham striker Clint Dempsey thought he gave his side a deserved lead, only to see Belgian assistant referee Peter Hermans raise his flag. Replays showed that Dempsey appeared to be in line with the second last Algerian at the moment his teammate played the ball.

In some cases where an attacker appears "level", some part of his body 9other than his hand) might be a couple of centimetres ahead of his opponent. With Dempsey, this did not appear to be the case. As an assistant referee, I could understand why Hermans made that error, but one has to wonder how he was that sure about his decision. If he were not sure, he was supposed to keep his flag down.

Conclusion

Questionable officiating cost the USA two goals at the tournament. Fortunately, those decisions did not cost the USA in the end. Justice was served as the Americans avoided Germany in the second round. If they beat Ghana in the second round, they faced the prospect of Uruguay or South Korea - as opposed to Argentina. Despite the controversy, the USA triumphed in adversity. That makes their story even more compelling.

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