UEFA President Michel Platini has insisted over and over that association football does not need goal line technology or video replay, and that additional officials are the answer to what ails his sport. At Euro 2012, UEFA is utilizing extra officials on each goal line, who should be able to determine whether or not a shot has crossed the goal line.
The goal line official had a great opportunity to provide evidence to support Platini's argument in Tuesday's 1-0 England win over Ukraine. He messed it up.
In the 62nd minute, Marko Devic got clear of the defense and hit a shot on target, which Joe Hart deflected but couldn't keep from bouncing toward the goal. John Terry got back and made a brilliant clearance, but it wasn't clear in real time whether or not the ball crossed the line. In the opinion of the goal line official, it didn't.
Close, right? From that angle, it's very tough to tell whether or not Terry got there in time. The official had a much better angle, though, and he should have seen exactly where the ball was in relation to the goal line.
That's definitely over the goal line, no doubt about it. There was an official literally two feet under that picture, standing right on the goal line, looking right at the ball. Incredibly, he missed the call, robbing Ukraine of a goal that could have got them back into the match.
But wait, should Devic have had that shooting opportunity in the first place? Nope!
The play was offside, so Ukraine never should have had the opportunity to play that shot. Congratulations to Viktor Kassai's crew for their crowning achievement in awful officiating.
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