World Cup 2010

Are there many football (soccer) fans on the forum?

It looks like it was a good day for many members here yesterday, as both England and the USA qualified in the group .

I'm not feeling too hopeful about the England v Germany game though!

Huge soccer fan here, Ian.

My prediction is for Brazil to meet Spain in the finals.

btw, I am also a Chelsea fan.

Wasn't going to bother with the match yesterday after the Sunday fiasco Thought I might give the re-run of 'r' Jeremy a shot instead, but I relented.
Mind, I support Birmingham City.* It has been said I know nothing about football!

* 'Twas a lifestyle choice, in the area of Brum I grew up in, if you wanted a life.....

I'm french, I live in holland and I support Germany...

USA! USA! USA!

Now that's confusing . Why Germany out of interest?

I've got a feeling it could be an all South-American final this year, their teams are off to a flying start so far.

Newcastle United fan here

I know the feeling! I was dreading watching it, but the team turnaround was quite dramatic - even if the 1-0 scoreline wasn't

That was a close call with the last minute goal! (although, you had a disallowed goal that should have stood!). I've got a feeling that England are going to really regret coming 2nd in the group, as it's a much toucher path we've got to face now. I'd have thought that you'd beat Ghana in the next match.

What Thrax said!!

I don't watch too much but answer me this. Is it normal to have goals disallowed on bogus calls? Should we just chalk it up to fate or coincidence? Is it normal for an official to not have to explain or speak about the call.

Here in the States, sometimes we want to have a senate inquiry when there is a history changing mistake made by officials. Last month an umpire blew a call in a Detroit baseball game that robbed the pitcher of a perfect game. A perfect game is a very rare occurrence in baseball. It's only happened 20 times in the last 110 years or so. The umpire admitted the mistake and the pitcher and team backed him up and said he is one of the best umps in the game.

How are bad calls treated in the Premier League?

At least in FIFA, the referee is not immediately required to explain his decision. Officials do, however, deliver a report to FIFA after the game documenting their various calls and the reasons behind them.

Beyond that, the ref's word is basically law. FIFA won't overturn anything.

Pretty much as Thrax said with respect to FIFA, it's almost exactly the same in the Premier League when it comes to goals. Cards can sometimes be rescinded, but not goals or overall matches.

I can understand why the ref's decision is final, otherwise it would become a bureaucratic nightmare... however, I don't see why they can't use a 5th referee who can watch live TV feeds and see if someone is offside/onside instantly, then confer with the main ref. I'd have been gutted to be dumped out of the world cup on a falsely disallowed goal.

That's the game with the round black & white ball as opposed to the brown pointy ended ball I believe. See I'm a regular sports fanatic I think kids and those few guys we sent to South Africa are the only people that play THAT here in the states