Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cheaters, Denying Goalscoring Opportunity, Ghana, Refereeing, Soccer, South Africa, Suarez, World Cup
Luis Suárez is causing trouble in my marriage. I realize there are many women who watch soccer based on which teams have the hottest players. I’m not one of those women. It’s not that I can’t appreciate a good hottie, but it’s not really a motivating factor in my passion for soccer.
However, there is a player that has finally come between my husband and I, and it is Mr. Suárez. You may know him better as that cheater from Uruguay that handled the ball on the goal line, denying the goal by Ghana in the 90th minute.
Richard Whittall wrote an article that FIFA was considering extending the one game suspension Suárez received for his ejection to a tournament suspension. This article provoked quite the argument at our house, because in a house with 2 referees, that’s bound to happen eventually.
My position on referees has been long established: you have to suck up who you get, but my position on cheaters was battled out today. I think it’s that now I’m not just a referee, I’m a mom too, and cheaters really, really suck. I can’t stand them. The diving, the feigning injury, even the German goalkeeper pretending that the ball wasn’t in the net when he knew it was against England…all unacceptable. But the handball on the goal line is cheating at it’s worst form. Just ask any American that’s been a fan since before 2002, it is an awful way to leave a World Cup.
My husband’s position is that the referee made the right call (red card and PK in favor of Ghana) and that it’s Ghana’s problem that they didn’t capitalize on the penalty kick. And yes, they should have. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s cheating that affected the outcome of the game. I’m happy that at least in this case, the referee got the call right, but don’t you feel cheated that Ghana’s going home? I know most of South Africa does. There’s no fairness in the result of that game.
So frankly, I don’t care that justice was served in the eyes of FIFA. It’s a cheap way to go home, and I’d be happier if Luis Suárez was going home on the same plane as Ghana (now THERE’S some justice!) Since that won’t happen, I’ll pray to the gods of soccer justice, the same gods that graced Landon Donovan in extra time for the US, sending us through in spite of being dealt some lame referee luck. Netherlands: Send Uruguay home on July 6! Maybe then I’ll feel like speaking to my husband again.
official languages of South Africa. Zulu is the language of the Zulu people and is spoken by
approximately ten million people. About 24% of the South African
population speaks Zulu and over 50% of the population understands Zulu,
making it the most common language of South Africa.
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Soccer....Family Style 
I am so with you on this. I don’t think Ghana should have even had to convert a penalty kick. This wasn’t like a foul in the zone where the player might have had a scoring opportunity–this was a ball that was definitely going in and was batted away deliberately. It should have been a goal for Ghana. I hope the Netherlands beat Uruguay badly on Tuesday.
Comment by Laurie B July 3, 2010 @ 8:05 pmYou are SO TOTALLY WRONG. Your just jelous because Uruguay is now in semifinals and the US is not. Suárez is a hero, and what he did was instinctive as a player, to keep the football out of the net, and it’s totally fair, as he was put a red card and everything. Besides, the referee was absolutely unfair with Uruguay, everyone knows he acted in favour of Ghana because FIFA wanted an african team to get to semifinals. Uruguay should’ve won the match way before the extra time and everything, you know. Uruguay’s gonna give everything and they will bring the Cup back here. Sorry! Stop being envious, it’s worthless
Comment by sophie1 July 3, 2010 @ 8:41 pmI’m with Doug. Doesn’t matter whether he’s right or wrong, I’m with Doug.
Comment by Elton July 3, 2010 @ 9:04 pmSophie1, it’s you that’s wrong. I will never envy a cheater, nor will I think a cheater is a hero. It may have been instinctive, but that doesn’t make it right. Don’t believe me? Check out US Soccer’s unofficial anthem: Represent by Weezer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7nCt6vWOxQ and not the lyrics: “You don’t wanna lie, steal or cheat your way to the top ohhh
Comment by soccerfamilystyle July 4, 2010 @ 6:59 amIt matters what your people think
You represent your family” It matters how you play, and in the highly unlikely chance URU brings the cup home, true soccer fans will remember it with an asterisk.
Whatever, I’m just glad that they played like that and I don’t regret anything. The entire Southamerica was with us today and we where united, sorry you can’t feel the same way about soccer, it’s just a pity. I’m really proud and we’ll go now to get that third place, more than any other country would have ever imagined. And I do think soccer fans will rememember this achievement as a great thing, we uruguayans are TRUE soccer fans.
Comment by sophie1 July 6, 2010 @ 6:44 pmWe all know Uruguay will be going home on Tuesday, the Netherlands look very *ahem* “Barca-esque” (lol).
But more to the point Suarez is no worse then Maradona, Henry, Mascherano, or any of the other numerous players to use their hands to gain an advantage in the game. Was it the most important handball ever? Sure! Should Suarez be punished more severely? Absolutely! The FA’s around the world will go back into footage and fine players actions after games and FIFA should do the same thing.
The thing that I think makes Uruguay look even worse was the celebrations, Suarez celebrating on his way out and the Uruguayan players acting like they just won 4-1 over England. They should’ve acted very humble with how they won but instead they were jumping around like they won the World Cup or just beat their arch rivals. All in all Uruguay looks terrible in my eyes now.
Comment by Jay July 4, 2010 @ 6:07 pmUruguayans couldn’t have been more humble, not as others like Maradona who was claiming they would win even before they had played the matches. I’m proud to be uruguayan, and honestly don’t care about what outsiders have to say. I just feel sorry for you.
Comment by sophie1 July 6, 2010 @ 6:40 pmSorry, I’m with Doug on this one. I hate cynical football, and I hate cheaters and dirty players as much as the next guy; but the rules are the rules. It was a professional foul, if you will, and if we think that that sort of thing shouldn’t ever be allowed, then we need to change the rules of the game. A deliberate handball in the box is a red card and a PK; that was given, and it isn’t Uruguay’s fault that Ghana couldn’t convert the PK. Not much different from the professional foul of pulling a man down in the box on an obvious breakaway; just looks worse when you use your hands. 🙂
FWIW, I don’t think Suarez is a hero, nor do I think he is a demon; he’s just a soccer player. I honestly wonder how much time he had to think about his handball; I think my instictive reaction would be to NOT keep the ball out of the net with my hands, because it is so ingrained – when I am guarding the post I always have my hands behind me. But there have been times, on the field, when I have instictively put my hands up (usually to protect my face). Not saying he did it accidentally; certainly looked deliberate (and he is now, classlessly, taking credit for it), but I have to wonder how much actual decision-making was going on.
I can’t agree that Uruguay should not have celebrated; they won their game, Ghana missed the PK, and they advanced to the semis. Fair or not, can you tell me we would not have celebrated a similar win? I might have been ashamed of that one player, but after all, it is not that one moment that wins the game; it is everything you’ve done up to and including that moment. I still like the Uruguay team – although I expect it will be a moot point after they meet Holland.
Comment by local kitchen July 4, 2010 @ 9:19 pm