Thursday, 22 June 2006
U.S. Eliminated From World Cup
« US Senate Kills Minimum Wage Hike | Main | Goodness of Democracies »The U.S. finished a disappointing run in the world cup by losing to Ghana in the third match. It was a spirited back and forth match until they were screwed by the officials on a horrible penalty kick call at the end of the half. That kick squashed the U.S.'s chances and propelled Ghana into the second round. Is it just coincidence that 3 of the worst calls of the world cup have happened against the U.S.?
I have to give the U.S. some credit for showing spirit after being humiliated by the Czechs. They played with tremendous passion gaining the tie against incredible odds in the Italian game. And then played a great 1st half against Ghana. Unfortunately, they didn't get it done. Now it is time for Arena to step down. He has built the team from ground up and has taken them as far as he can. Now it is time for someone new to take the reigns and help the team to the next level.
A couple of thoughts after watching soccer for the last two weeks. First off, the officials have to much control on the game. With scoring as low as it is, a bad call which leads to a goal makes it very difficult for a team to recover. Officiating is not nearly as game changing in most other sports. Two things need to happen to make soccer a better sport. More scoring and better officiating.
If they would add a second official on the field a different set of eyes can be used to help eliminate horrendous calls. In addition, they could use instant replay on all penalty kicks to make sure they were legitimate fouls.
They also need to find a way to increase the scoring. Currently games are averaging about 2 scores which is incredibly low. Scoring doesn't have to be outrageously high. An average of 5 or 6 goals a game would be much better. It would also help to nullify poor officiating decisions. It would give a team a chance to get back in the game after a mistake.
There are two ways they can achieve this. They can make the goals larger which would definitely create more scores. Or they could get creative and take on lacrosse style rules and force teams to keep 3 players on the other side of mid court at all times. The latter would lead to better spacing and more interesting attacks. It also keeps teams from packing it in on defense.
Just a couple of thoughts.
