Friday I watched one of the worst displays of officiating I have ever seen for any sport. Yes, worse than umpire, Jim Joyce’s blown call in which pitcher Armando Galarraga from the Detroit Tigers should have been awarded with a perfect game. If you have followed any of the World Cup so far and especially if you are a proud American as I am and happen to cheer on the Good ‘Ole Red White & Blue then you may feel similar emotions as I do by Friday’s match between the USA and Slovenia: disgust, heart-broken, appalled.
Now, I’ll start off by saying the U.S. was very cold in the 1st and was down 2-0 by halftime. Wait a minute, 2-0 to Slovenia?!? A country of only 2 million. Come on, seriously? Their athletic pastimes consist of gymnastics and skiing, enough said. – I for one believe the U.S. should be a fierce competitor in every sport we engage in, no excuses. – In the 2nd half we saw a completely different U.S. squad, quickly taking shots and stealing possession from Slovenia, which led to goals by Landon Donovan and later the equalizer scored by Michael Bradley (Coach Bradley’s son) which brought millions of fans around the world to their feet. As the U-S-A chants became increasingly louder, any American watching knew we had a chance of scoring again and victory, which would put the US in prime position to advance to the Round of 16.
As the clock winded down, we witnessed U.S. second-half sub, Maurice Edu head in a free kick from Donovan in the 86th minute. Suddenly, the impossible became a reality as Americans filled with joy, cheering, clapping and chanting. Did we just witness World Cup history?? And then, pure robbery and disaster occurred. Not by Slovenians, but by one man. That one-man is referee Koman Coulibaly from the African county of Mali. “Public Enemy Number One”, as I will remember him, disallowed the goal by Edu but has yet to provide any type of clarification. As broadcast stations continued to show replays of the stolen goal, there was not one foul or anyone offsides in which Team USA should have been penalized for. In fact, one could clearly see at least 2 American players being practically bear-hugged by Slovenian players in the penalty box. Who knew UFC octagon rules were allowed? Suddenly the match was now over at a 2-2 tie. While the Americans did have an amazing second half comeback it left the team in a critical must-win situation in their next game on Wednesday against Algeria.
How did this happen? It seemed like a bad nightmare. Coulibaly made several bad calls throughout the game and is now currently under investigation by soccer’s international governing body, FIFA. But even if he is suspended from the rest of the tournament, it does nothing to change the outcome of the game. I won’t lie, I’m pissed and shocked that this could happen on soccer’s biggest stage, the FIFA World Cup, which fans around the world only get to enjoy once every four years. I understand the aspect of human mistakes in officiating but this is ridiculous and unexplainable. It simply should have never occurred. I have confidence in the U.S. in our upcoming game, but with other variables, will it be enough? Or, will Coulibaly’s blown call end up being a key reason for the USA not advancing? I can only hope a victory on Wednesday will lead America into the next round…Team USA, we have faith in you. Koman Coulibaly, I have four words for you…”Don’t Tread on Me”. I hope that guy is never given any type of officiating responsibilities for the rest of his days, not even at a Dave and Buster’s.
USA vs Slovenia: Stolen Goal
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