USA vs. Slovenia: Did Koman Coulibaly or Jim Joyce Make the Worse Call?

We can try to say the United States national soccer team cost themselves the match Friday in a 2-2 tie against Slovenia.

After all, their first-half play and the goals they gave up were equally atrocious.

In the end, first-time World Cup referee Koman Coulibaly will bear the brunt of the blame, and rightfully so.

His blown call cost the U.S. one of the greatest comebacks in World Cup history. As it is, the U.S. will be applauded for just getting back to a tie.

But applause means nothing in the group standings.

The call brought acid reflux to many U.S. sports fans, as memories of umpire Jim Joyce's blown call, which robbed Armando Galarraga of a perfect game, flood our brains.

How does Coulibaly's gaffe compare to Joyce's?

Implications

Joyce's mistake cost a pitcher one of the rarest feats in baseball history.

That the Tigers collected a 28th consecutive out after the blown call only drove home the severity of the miss, and the historical significance of the feat.

Still, there has already been two perfect games this year. Even though it is a full-team accomplishment, and one of the slimmest feats in the sport's record books, the Tigers still earned the victory.

The call did not affect the outcome of the game, or the standings.

Coulibaly's call definitely stole history from the U.S. It would have been their first-ever win after trailing by two goals in World Cup history.

As It is, it's the first time the team has ever taken a WC point after a two-goal hole.

Even bigger, the call changed the path for the U.S. out of group play.

The team will need to win, and likely get some help, to move on. So the one call could change the complexion of the entire tournament.

THE BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

Reputations

Joyce came into the game as one of the most revered umpires in the sport. Players and coaches alike see him as one of the game's best, and the umpire judging system agrees with the assessment.

He has worked two previous World Series without incident.

Soon after the game, an anonymous polling of 100 players by ESPN the Magazine named Joyce the game's best ump.

Coulibaly was working his first-ever World Cup game after an 11-year career of calling FIFA-sanctioned international matches.

He has a fairly clean slate in Malian matches, but Tunisians have started a Facebook page calling for his expulsion from FIFA after a series of suspect calls in the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

BIGGEST LOSER: Coulibaly

Their Complete Work In That Game

Joyce was otherwise invisible in the blown perfect game—exactly what you want from an umpire. Make your call and don't be the story.

Joe West could learn plenty from Joyce.

Coulibaly's blown call was simply a culmination of a horrific World Cup debut.

He called a handball yellow against Robbie Findley in the first half that was proven wrong by replay.

It is Findley's second yellow card in two games. He'll be out against Algeria—a big loss for the U.S.

Replays showed Coulibaly missed a series of fouls against both teams.

TV replays further showed that most of his four yellow cards against Slovenia—including three in a six-minute span in the second half—were ticky-tack at best.

BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

The Contrition Factor

Any official caught in a blown call controversy should follow the move-by-move textbook that Joyce executed after the game.

He let the players and Tigers manager Jim Leyland complain in the moment without throwing them out of the game.

After the game, and after seeing a replay, he first went to Galarraga and apologized, then was equally effusive with the media.

He cried. He apologized profusely and accepted any and all criticism. He shook hands with Galaragga and teared up once more the next day when the pitcher delivered the lineup card.

It turned fan and player outrage into sympathy almost instantly. Joyce could not have handled the aftermaths of the gaffe any better.

Coulibaly would not explain the details of his foul call to the U.S. players and coaches, and did not immediately come out to say he had made a mistake.

Some would argue that because of the high stakes of his error, he is best to be quiet at this point.

But as a man, Coulibaly failed in the moment, and in the moments after the blown call.

BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

Who's Defending Them?

Because of Joyce's immediate contrition, the manager and the players came to his defense. It's as if we were waiting for the players to erupt to escalate fan hatred to another level.

That never happened.

When Galarraga came out and called Joyce a stand-up individual and let the error go, it was as if the fans and the nation had no right to fan the flames.

Coulibaly has had very few defenders in the hours after the game.

Why?

Because he is a fairly unknown commodity and the replays are so blatantly against him. Add that to his silence thus far and his defiance in the moment and few can defend his error.

BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

The Media Aftermath

There was a domino effect in play. The first reactions by MLB Network analysts were harsh. Even former players like Dave Valle, who had the utmost respect for Joyce, said he stole a perfect game.

When Joyce admitted his error and the Tigers backed him as a man and as an umpire, the media reaction was heavily muted.

It was as if the collective media corps were not willing to pile on and be out on an island against a sympathetic figure.

The media reaction has been the reverse in the immediate aftermath. Commentators were at first quick to point out that the U.S. dug an early grave against Slovenia.

But the more removed we are from the match, the more replays are shown. And Coulibaly is silent on the call.

Analysts are showing more and more outrage. This will turn from smoke to flames to a wildfire of criticism.

BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

Lasting Impressions

Joyce's reactions left fans feeling that although the moment was stolen, a man should not be ruined because of it.

Coulibaly's inactivity after the blown call has many saying he's hiding under the veil of secrecy that FIFA has created for him.

FIFA rules state the refs don't need to clarify their foul calls and the governing body stands by the secrecy. Experts have said time and again that they actually enjoy and invite this kind of controversy because it creates further fervor for the sport.

BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

The Long-Term Personal Effects

There was a feeling in the immediate aftermath that despite Joyce's vast body of excellence in his career, he would suffer a fate similar to Don Denkinger, who is widely blamed by the rabid Cardinals fan base for costing St. Louis the 1985 World Series.

Denkinger received endless death threats and became a recluse after his career was over. Only in the last few years has there been a lessening of the attacks against the umpire.

Joyce's contrition and the outpouring of support for him likely means Joyce will outlive this moment. He has become a sympathetic and borderline revered personality in the weeks since the game.

Coulibaly has likely worked his last World Cup game and is headed more toward the Denkinger fate.

BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

The Bigger Picture Fallout

Joyce's gaffe led to a renewed call for an expansion of instant replay in baseball. But once again, his reaction to the error took a lot of bite out of the attacks.

Even as more criticism shifted to Major League Baseball than Joyce, the game's principal participants said kept defending the human element of the game.

Instant replay will likely be expanded in the future in the sport, but the class reaction and the quelling of the national disgust for the moment has allowed Bud Selig to avoid making any instant changes.

The furor over Coulibaly's call is likely to only grow, especially if the call costs the U.S. a chance to move on in the tourney.

Combine this with the Ireland-France handball controversy and FIFA will likely have to react with changes—most likely leading to instant replay.

BIGGER LOSER: Coulibaly

The Biggest Loser: No Contest

I'm really not trying to pile on here. I was trying to find something to equal this argument.

Other than Coulibaly being less homely than Joyce, there's no contest here.

Koman Coulibaly will live on in infamy, while Jim Joyce provided the perfect example that the true judge of a person isn't their mistakes, but how they overcome those tough moments.

Because of that, Joyce may be revered over time in some circles.

Sorry, Koman.

You will forever be a goat and an idiot for this gaffe.