Huh? Hear me out for second. The USA is through to the Knockout Stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I assume you’ve heard by now. Now that the victory is clear, we can look back at the decision that was sure to be the talking point of the match had Landon Donovan not scored: Clint Dempsey’s disallowed goal in the first half.
For the record, the call was wrong; however, a wrong call is not necessarily a bad call. Frank De Bleeckere, the match’s referee, is not Koman Couliabaly. De Bleeckere was in a decent enough position, but with the chaos surrounding the play, he had no choice but to rely on his linesman. The linesman was also in the proper position. From his vantage point, Dempsey appears to be offside. It is frighteningly close, but at game speed Dempsey appears to be slightly offside.
In this age of instant replay and technology, we often forget the speed at which the game actually takes place. Referees have to make split-second decisions. In this match, they got one call wrong. It took freeze framing and telestrator to convince me that Dempsey was actually onside. Barely. Literally the width of the defender’s foot. Sure that’s all you need, but I challenge you to run twenty yards and not have your vision vary by six inches. Calls like this happen. It is part of soccer. It will certainly fuel the demand for instant replay (I’m all for it), but there’s a better chance that France will actually give an effort under Domenech (too soon?).
While it is incredibly unfortunate that the one call the refereeing crew botched disallowed yet another US goal in the World Cup, the fact remains that Bob Bradley’s squad emerged victorious. We were not robbed. Even if the US lost, it would be hard to condemn Frank De Bleeckere. Give credit where credit is due. He called one heck of a match. Remember that.
Adam Soucie is the author of Soccer, Not Football, a blog focused on the American game. If you’ve liked this piece, check out his other work. If you haven’t liked it, he promises there’s better stuff on his site.