Women's World Cup - Referee Gets Handball Wrong

[Unregistered]

Wow! You've done a really nice job of providing a very logical explanation and interpretation of this particular call. I very much enjoyed reading it :) I actually felt like you did when I watched it and thought the call was harsh. It is frustrating that so many referees get this call wrong, but it does take a certain amount of insight and understanding about 'natural' body movement to be able to interpret these calls correctly. As a referee, coach, and player myself I feel like when you see a player trying to move their hand away from the ball, then it clearly shows their intention to avoid the ball to hand contact. She was clearly just providing counter balance to her movement by bringing her back hand up, she tried to move it out of the way when the ball was struck, and considering the proximity and speed of the ball this was impossible to do.

Why would she deliberately handle the ball in the 82nd minute of a World Cup Quarter-final in the penalty area, making herself into a larger "t-shape" or whatever nonsense, just to try and block a cross coming in?

France should have won that game :)

Well said!

[Unregistered]

This simple thread points to the difficulty of refereeing (any sport). Try to cut them the slack they deserve while you are on the sidelines.

[Unregistered]

Why isn't there instant replay in soccer to help with these game changing calls?

[Unregistered]

Why isn't there instant replay in soccer to help with these game changing calls?

And this is exactly why we need to give the referee some slack. Can you imagine instant replay in soccer? Part of what makes soccer so great is the pace, no time-outs... it moves. Even if this play had instant replay, people are divided. Soccer with instant replay stoppages would suck!

[Unregistered]

And this is exactly why we need to give the referee some slack. Can you imagine instant replay in soccer? Part of what makes soccer so great is the pace, no time-outs... it moves. Even if this play had instant replay, people are divided. Soccer with instant replay stoppages would suck!

Exactly. The ONLY place where I would like Instant Replay is to see if the ball crosses the goal line, where there usually is play stoppage anyway. I've seen instances where the ball appears to have crossed the goal line but wasn't called a goal, and vice versa. To me, that is worth getting correct.

[Unregistered]

Handling in the box

Exactly. The ONLY place where I would like Instant Replay is to see if the ball crosses the goal line, where there usually is play stoppage anyway. I've seen instances where the ball appears to have crossed the goal line but wasn't called a goal, and vice versa. To me, that is worth getting correct.

I would and handling in the box like this example. You should never give a team a goal 85% of the time on a incorrect call especially when millions of dollars are at stake.

[Unregistered]

I would and handling in the box like this example. You should never give a team a goal 85% of the time on a incorrect call especially when millions of dollars are at stake.

Except the call was correct

[Unregistered]

Except the call was correct

It was incorrect.

[Unregistered]

So the call tonight on Germany, was it correct? It looked like it was outside of the box. I didn't get to hear the referee explanation as everyone here was talking. Just curious. Fairly new student of the game.

[Unregistered]

So the call tonight on Germany, was it correct? It looked like it was outside of the box. I didn't get to hear the referee explanation as everyone here was talking. Just curious. Fairly new student of the game.

Looked like impeded progress. Outside the box.

There is a lot of money at stake if the US loses...so...

[Unregistered]

It was incorrect.

She stuck her arm out like a T. That's not a hand ball. Arms to her side and ball is nowhere near hitting her.

[Unregistered]

She stuck her arm out like a T. That's not a hand ball. Arms to her side and ball is nowhere near hitting her.

Sorry missed a critical question mark:




That's not a hand ball?

[Unregistered]

Looked like impeded progress. Outside the box.

There is a lot of money at stake if the US loses...so...

So you are saying that the ref gave us the call? Sheesh you people are something. First it's that the US plays terrible soccer. Then you complain about all of the individual players and how they do various things wrong. Now it's the refs. I'm sure there is a site dedicated to b!tching about the US WNT and you all should go there and let it all out. There were lots of judgement calls in the game. Some went for the US, some against. Last I checked, Germany had a PK that they didn't even put on frame. Oh wait, Hope cheated so she should have gotten a do over. That's it.

[Unregistered]

Funny that you bring up Germany's missed pk. All the FOX announcers said the U.S. Defender, Julie Johnston, should have been red carded & removed from the game for purposely pulling the German player down & denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Despite them missing their pk (which Hope didn't cheat on but which the commentators were surprised Hope didn't get a yellow), not giving our star defender a red and not having to play the rest of the game with only 10 players was another huge "unfair" blow to the Germans. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic the U.S. won but soccer is one of the few sports where one bad call by a ref can literally determine the outcome. When a ton of money is involved, it will always make folks wonder...though I think most refs try their best. If soccer ever does gain super popularity in the U.S., crucial calls like pks wil go to instant replay like American football. It won't slow the game down anymore than all the flopping/fake injuries!

[Unregistered]

Gee, I don't know a single sport where a crucial missed call CAN'T impact a game and decide it. Sure the US got the benefit of a couple of calls. Did Germany get some calls their way too? Sure they did. And instant replay doesn't always add to the black and white of a situation, but instead adds more gray. It's not always the solution. The US has allowed one goal the entire tournament. But to hear some people here, that is the result of bad calls, lots of luck and other forces beyond the players themselves. Apparently the US is the worst one goal team every and is lucky to be here. The game I saw last night was one where the ref swallowed her whistle except for the most eggregious of calls and not calling Johnston for a red is pretty consistent with how she called the game. As to the call on Alex, I don't recall the angle the ref had but to her, she saw Alex in the box. All I ask for from a ref is consistency and from what I saw, it appeared consistent throughout the game.