I don’t watch soccer so I haven’t seen a second of the World Cup but its my understanding that the red card was pretty much universally agreed to have been wrongly issued AND that FIFA has overturned several other red cards/bans in this tournament when bad calls like that were made.
So why all the screaming and crying about this one call being overturned?
Europe is belly-aching because they are afraid Americans are learning *their* game. Well, of course we are, and we’re getting better at it, too.
“... that FIFA has overturned several other red cards/bans in this tournament ...”
A small correction if you please. While some red cards have in the past been overturned, this was the first overturn in this WC. There have indeed been a few yellow cards reversed.
An interesting side note: in recent years FIFA has introduced the issuance of a yellow card for ‘simulation’. When an official feels that the writhing and howling from a player on the ground is a bit over the top or even completely faked, the ref can issue a yellow card. It has happened at least once in this tournament in one of the early games.