The United States overcame a two-goal deficit to force a draw against Slovenia on Friday, but the Americans may have deserved to win outright. Shortly after tying the game in the 81st minute, the U.S. had a free kick near the Slovenian goal.
Landon Donovan, who scored the first U.S. goal of the game, lobbed the ball towards the goal and teammate Maurice Edu knocked it in. A referee called the goal off, apparently because he thought the American committed a foul.
Replays suggest that the call may have been ill-advised. Numerous observers criticized the official’s decision. The ESPN announcer called the referee A “Disgrace”.”Where is it? There’s no offsides,” one commentator said upon viewing the replay.
Maurice Edu’s goal should have counted against Slovenia
Slovenia sits in first place with four points ahead of the U.S. (two points), England (one point) and winless Algeria. The English play the Algerians later on Friday.
Slovenia controls its destiny going into the final slate of games in the group stage, as it can advance to the second round with a victory (and possibly a draw) against England.
Despite its amazing comeback against Slovenia, the U.S. still needs to beat Algeria in its final match to have a realistic chance of moving on.
After the game, Donovan spoke about the referee’s controversial call. “It was the guy’s first World Cup game so maybe he got a little caught up in the moment,” he said. Scroll down to watch. Was the call correct?
After the game, Donovan spoke about the referee’s controversial call. “It was the guy’s first World Cup game so maybe he got a little caught up in the moment,” he said.
What do you think?
Source: Huffington Post
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