Instant Replay In Soccer? For Better Or For Worse?

For the millions of bandwagon fans that have decided to take five minutes of their spare time to watch the 2010 world cup I welcome you to the world of soccer. For quite sometime soccer has been one of the most controversial sports in modern times. Although as hard as it may seem to believe for Americans, soccer; not football, baseball, or even basketball is the sport that unites the masses around the world.  It infuriates me to hear how the American media has highly criticized the referee calls during several matches in the World Cup. But for those bandwagon fans, and rookie soccer journalists these issues have been going on for several decades. The essence of soccer is the perfection of the imperfection. The controversy over a call, the adrenaline of a game. Soccer itself is a sport so imperfect that it leaves you wanting for more. Take a moment to consider the following… Who is it that keeps pushing for “instant replay” in a non stopping sport?

It is not the American, Mexican, English, or even Brazilian soccer players. It is the American media who fails to take a moment to understand the sport. For the rookie American journalist, soccer is a combination of football, basketball, and hockey all into one. As a result they strive to promote the implementation  of instant replay in order to perfect referee calls. I don’t blame the sport, I don’t blame the fans. I blame the American media for a lack of preparation in who they choose to analyze these magnificent events. In fact the American journalists seek the perfection in the game of soccer because of the strive for perfection as a society in American culture. To treat everyone equally. Hence their version of the bill of rights in soccer - all calls must be justified by the ref. If it is deemed unconstitutional we shall take it up against the supreme court alias the instant replay. But in soccer just like any other sport there is a winner, and a loser, when you are on the winning side there is perfection, the glorious feeling of confetti, fans screaming your name… call it cloud nine. When you are the loser, tears run, players fight, fans cry, nations weep, and sore losers protest the first person to blame is the ref. It could be due to a decision by the soccer field dictator, or it could be an honest mistake because the ref after all is human. On the other hand it could just be an excuse for the losing team in order to deny admitting that the winning team was the better squad on the field. Perhaps great teams don’t require the ref to pull their way. Perhaps only great teams stand out, overcome adversity, and establish themselves as a squad to admire. Even if the English goal would have counted when they lost to Germany 4-1 it still would not have made much of a difference. The controversy of the ball over passing the goal line overshadows the reality of the English. They simply were a disorganized team, that was clearly lacking a goal scorer and furthermore lacked the presence of Wayne Rooney who failed to live up to his challenge as a leader of the English team. The German team quickly took control of the game, and dominated for 75 minutes, the other 15 the English played at the level expected from them. But world cup winners don’t win by playing 15 minutes, they win two ways; playing hard all game long, and capitalizing on the opponents mistakes when it matters most thus scoring. In soccer it doesn’t matter how many blown calls the ref has, how many goals were blocked by the crossbar, what only matters is who is able to push the ball across the net. For millions of fans around the world wanting to add the instant replay into the game is like asking for a change in the size of the pitch, the size of the goal, the number of men that are allowed to play at the same time on the field. 

On the other hand Mexico’s loss to Argentina could have been deemed as unjustly for the offside’s goal which put Argentina ahead halfway through the first half. But what every true soccer fan understands is that even if the goal would have not counted, it would not have prevented the inevitable to occur. The presence of a superior team that was playing half speed such as the Argentinean squad against the frustrated and uncoordinated in its lines Mexican team. The error of the blown call overshadows the mistake of Javier Aguirre to start Bautista a player who barely starts in his club of Chivas. It is easy to blame another individual for your mistakes, the Latino soccer player has built a reputation on that. In the game that unites cultures the loneliest person on the planet is always the referee. The referee only has three friends the red card, and the line judges. When things begin to get out of hand the easiest form of defense is the red card. It is easy to cry over calls, it is easier to blame others for the loss of your team. Champions admit their mistakes, and overcome them. The American soccer media has such a lack of knowledge about soccer that they have cried more over this call than even the English, or Mexicans did. Why don’t the English and Mexican media call for justice? Because they know the game, they understand it, they know deep down that it would not have made a difference, and even if it would have made a difference that’s just the way the game is.

The concept of controversy will forever be instilled in soccer, the instant replays will never be assessed to the game simply because if you want perfection and justification in every play I suggest you watch football. Soccer coaches will never have a red flag in their pocket, and the game will forever have unholy men dressed in black at center circle that one team loves, and the other teams loathes. The essence of soccer will forever unite us in controversy, and glory. As history shows there is always a winner and a loser; history is always written by the winner whether it be with or without instant replay.