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The controversial calls

1323 Views 58 Replies 32 Participants Last post by  A10
need a thread for this big topic:

Vierri's disallowed goal on offside - no one on TV or posting can even agree on which italian player was supposed to have been offside. If it is that f'n close how in the world could the ref make such a call? Even with slo mo replay no one can even tell which player he is referring to. In that reduced space that call is insane.
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Placebo, I remember only Mexico has 6 points...I didnt know anyone has ALREADY qualified for the last 16 in this group. You are talking about Semis...wow! is that Tyson v Zombies?
Nobody is yet qualified, and Italy will only need a 1-0 victory over Mexico to qualify.
lets get it straight here guys

I am not part of the sad crew here blaming the refs

I lay teh blame squarely on that coward Trapatoni

If Italy were well coached and really the team I want to believe they are they would have still beaten Croatia with or without the disallowed goals
Linesman apologises to Azzurri Sunday 9 June, 2002

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Danish linesman Jens Larsen has apologised for his errors which saw two crucial goals ruled out in the 2-1 defeat to Croatia, but the Azzurri remain extremely angry.

¡§Larsen does not wish to speak to anyone right now,¡¨ revealed FIFA¡¦s refereeing co-ordinator Roberto Raia.

¡§He realises that he made a mistake and is very sorry, particularly on Christian Vieri¡¦s goal.¡¨


The Italian international had nodded the ball into the back of the net only to see the flag waved for offside. Television pictures showed he was in line with the defenders and behind the ball.

¡§Larsen is upset at having made this error,¡¨ continued Raia. ¡§He realises all too well what he has done.¡¨

However, the linesman attempted to justify his second error, ruling out Filippo Inzaghi¡¦s last-minute equaliser for a shirt-tugging incident.

¡§He explained to me that it was a difficult situation to rule on as both the players were holding on to each other¡¦s shirts at the time.¡¨

Italy will not be making a formal protest as FIFA released a statement maintaining that these two costly errors fall within the norm.

¡§Referees are human and therefore can make mistakes,¡¨ read the statement. ¡§Even if Italy take this to court it won¡¦t change the result of the game.¡¨

¡§At this point we can only hope that Italy qualify for the next round of this World Cup.¡¨

Italy must beat Mexico next Thursday in order to be sure of making it through to the final 16.

Even Larsen¡¦s admission has not calmed the man involved in the first goal. ¡§He deserves to be shot,¡¨ snapped Vieri at a press conference this morning.

¡§I have never seen anything like it in my entire career. In League football we may see errors, but this is a World Cup and should have different standards.¡¨

¡§They say,¡¨ he continued, ¡§that we players should have a good relationship with the referee and show fair play. It¡¦s becoming increasingly difficult for me to live up to that.¡¨

The goals came at crucial moments in this delicate match, particularly what would have been the equaliser.

¡§Inzaghi¡¦s goal being annulled was the craziest thing I have ever seen on a football pitch. It was incredible. Just incredible.¡¨

Nonetheless, Vieri hopes that their anger can be turned into positive energy against current Group G leaders Mexico.

¡§We have so much anger inside our bodies that it will help us do better from now on. Traditionally Italy give their best when they are placed in a difficult position and we want to carry on that tendency.¡¨

¡§The knockout stages have started a game early for us. This is the time to bring out our character.¡¨

channel4
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I've posted this in the match thread in the WC forum ;)
Those controversial calls is something I do not even want to talk about, because I know if the players had not made those elementary mistakes in deffence, Italy would never have needed those goals in the first place.
King Italy said:
The linesman is not to blame my friends. Graham Poll, the main ref, who is English, did not overrule the calls and he knew they were legitimate goals, I can bet my balls any other referee who is not English would have. The Poms hate the Italians, it's well known, simple as that. That's why Italy lost.

But what are ya gonna do :D
yeah, that must be it, the perfidious English have done it again:howler: We don't hate the Italians, we just enjoy having a good laugh at you;) (kidding)
King italy, excuse me but, who the heck are the"poms"?
domnimon said:
King italy, excuse me but, who the heck are the"poms"?
Ninny Englishmen, which if you exclude their military and their football team, accounts for a huge segment of their male population

Just enjoying having a good laugh at them;) (kidding)
Thanks fangul for the response....Don't worry Azzurri fans Italy will win this group.

FORZA AZZURRI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most people who viewed the game would agree the the outcome was conditioned by those decisions and that isn't taking anything away from the performance Croatia put in,considering against Mexico i thought they were something else,so definitly credit should wholely go Croatia for their determination to overturn such an abizmal start to the tournament,but i hope that it's the end for these OFFICIALS who want to be part of the action,they're meant to be invisible not centre stage.
azar said:

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:
Oh please, don't insult our intelligence.
You're making yourself look like a fool.
Experts from NZ. HAHHAAAHHHA. Don't make us laugh!!

It's like having 2 strikers run free towards goal. The one with the ball passing it behind to the other striker to slot it in. Would he be off-side when he obviously would be in front of the defenders of the other team?? Ridiculous!!

look whatever man, the more you people talk about it the sadder you look. The linesman made the call, it looked offside by a head(it was), nobody's complaining except the people here.
Ero, everyone had given credits to Croatia already, isn't that enough for you? Since when did you become the ref's lawyer?
point taken IanZ, I'll agree to let it go. We've got two very important games, and I would hate to see Italy bow out in the first round, not as much as I would hate to see Croatia do the same though.

good luck
placebo said:
Even the most respected soccer analyst here in Australia i.e Johnny Warren said that Inzaghi fouled Simic.
An Australian soccer analyst, can't be too many of them :tongue:
Ero said:
The linesman made the call, it looked offside by a head(it was), nobody's complaining except the people here.
You still insists on that it was an offside? Jesus! How many years do people have to study football to know that whenever a player is behind the ball and teammate, it CAN´T be offside?!

Vieri was behind Zambrotta, hence why the offside rule doesn´t exists.

It really shouldn´t be this difficult for football fans to know the offside rules.
Jimmy said:
It really shouldn´t be this difficult for football fans to know the offside rules.
Perhaps they only play 7-man football on New Zeeland.
Originally posted by nasty nick
Perhaps they only play 7-man football on New Zeeland.
They play football on New Zeeland??? :confused: :eek:
It seemed to be only Talk Football and ultra myopic.
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