(Elise Amendola/AP) Donovan criticized referee Koman Coulibaly, claiming the Malian official had incorrectly disallowed an 86th-minute goal by Maurice Edu that would have given the United States an incredible comeback victory.
Posted on 06/18/2010 12:31:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
JOHANNESBURG – Landon Donovan insisted the Americans had a historic victory “stolen” from them after their dramatic World Cup comeback to tie Slovenia 2-2 at Ellis Park on Friday.
“They [the officials] stole a goal from us,” said Donovan, who launched the U.S. revival with a brilliant strike at the start of the second half. “It was a good finish and a good goal.
It was the guy’s [Coulibaly’s] first World Cup and maybe he got caught up a bit. This is the World Cup and you can’t just take away a goal from a team like that.”
With the Slovenian defense tiring rapidly, Edu made a strong run and connected with Donovan’s free kick from the right, sending the ball past Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. However, as the U.S. players began to celebrate wildly, the referee blew his whistle and awarded Slovenia a free kick for what he perceived to be foul play inside the penalty area.
“When I struck the ball and saw it go in the net I didn’t think there was any possibility it would not be allowed,” said Edu, who came on as a half-time substitute. “The guys were very angry because we felt we’d had a fair goal taken away.”
The team converged on Coulibaly and also surrounded him at the end of the game. An irate Jozy Altidore ranted at the referee and was pulled away by teammates Herculez Gomez and Benny Feilhaber before his comments landed him in trouble.
(Excerpt) Read more at g.sports.yahoo.com ...
Our president spits on this country. Why should we expect honor from other nations?
Hope the jerk enjoys his dirty money.
Hose Job!
It was a travesty.
Not only did the US NOT foul.. we had THREE players BEING fouled on the play!
unreal.. and, very bad for the game.
Phantom goal isn’t only reason US left with a draw
By NANCY ARMOUR (AP)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hdQzlwgCyz262rAiZ65z9tzgrD4wD9GDRQ302
JOHANNESBURG — Go ahead and whine about the U.S. goal that wasn’t. The call certainly seemed questionable and, if nothing else, the Americans deserved an explanation of exactly why their game-winner at the World Cup was waved off.
But when you start out tentative (again), fall behind early (again) and don’t capitalize on your chances, you lose your right to complain. The 2-2 draw with Slovenia on Friday didn’t come down to just one play, no matter how loudly the Americans and their fans are yelling.
Not to mention that all this moaning and groaning overshadows an impressive comeback, the kind of gutty rally the United States can build off for Wednesday’s must-win game against Algeria.
“I’m a little gutted, to be honest,” said Landon Donovan, whose brilliance went far beyond his canon of a shot that got the Americans back in the game. “I don’t know how they stole that last goal from us.”
Those, however, are the breaks of any game. There are good calls and bad calls in every game, in every sport, and they generally balance out by the time a player calls it a career.
The Americans have every right to be bitter about what looked like a sure thing by Maurice Edu off Landon Donovan’s free kick in the 86th minute. There was enough pushing and bumping in front of the goal to make the NASCAR crowd proud, and Michael Bradley could probably use a few bandages after the way he was manhandled.
Edu managed to work his way free and poke in a close-range shot, setting off raucous celebrations on the U.S. sideline. A victory would have all but assured the Americans of advancing to the next round.
But referee Koman Coulibaly had blown his whistle as the ball was going into the net. It was as if Edu’s foot had never even touched the ball.
“Sheer excitement,” Edu said, “to real disappointment.”
The U.S. players quickly swarmed Coulibaly, demanding an explanation. But Coulibaly could not — or would not — explain his call.
IIRC, virtually everyone in Mali is a Muslim. Coincidence? Probably not.
Shocking...another tie. Who would have guessed a tie in soccer?
Munich 1972.USSR gets four do overs to score the winning basket.If they have a chance to shaft the USA they will.Every time.
This is what we call reverse affirmative action!
Users get creative with Wikipedia page of USA-Slovenia referee
SEE HERE :
World Cup referee Koman Coulibaly is a household name all of a sudden.
Shortly after the USA’s Group C tie against Slovenia, Coulibaly’s Wikipedia entry was vandalized. You can view a screen-grab of the page before it was fixed here. Among the edits was this sentence:
“Coulibaly is rumoured to hate the United States of America with the burning passion of a white hot sun.”
Coulibaly, from Mali, is under fire for his controversial call on what appeared to be a potential game-winning goal by USA substitute Maurice Edu in the 86th minute. Coulibaly whistled a foul on the play, to the dismay of Team USA and coach Bob Bradley.
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IF ... and that’s a big “IF” ... the goal was disallowed, I would think the ref would stick with the offside call against Bradley. It doesn’t appear that he was, but it makes more sense than a foul against Edu. But then, Bradley was being thoroughly manhandled by the Sovenia defender which is another matter altogether.
Just when I thought I couldn’t care any less about the world cup they go and make it a rigged event so now I actually do care less about it. Amazing.
Just another reason for Americans to ignore soccer.
But I thought everybody was supposed to LOVE the US because Hussein is in the Whitey House??!!
World cup? What World Cup? Yawwwwn, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz.
RE: Just when I thought I couldn’t care any less about the world cup they go and make it a rigged event so now I actually do care less about it. Amazing.
Michael Corleone: Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in. (GODFATHER PART III )
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