2010 FIFA World Cup: A Look at the Controversial Decisions Spain Has Won

Every year in the World Cup, there are always certain calls that draw the irking of fans around the call for being terrible.

From a disallowed goal to a terribly officiated match, this happens all the time in the World Cup.

But in this 2010 World Cup, we have witnessed more controversial calls going one side's way than any side since the 2002 World Cup with South Korea.

That side is none other than the highest-ranked side remaining in the World Cup, according to the most recent FIFA World Ranking, in Spain, who are second overall in the world.

Going into this World Cup, Spain were one of the most popular picks to make the World Cup final, as they had some of the best players in the world in Xavi, David Villa, and Iker Casillas.

But after their loss 1-0 to Switzerland in Durban in their first World Cup match on June 16, the referees have given Spain some extremely beneficial calls.

Here is a look back at those controversial calls.

David Villa's Punch

In Spain's first match after their loss to Switzerland, Spain faced Honduras at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.

This match was won 2-0 by Spain and David Villa put together a fantastic performance by scoring twice and missing a hat trick by putting a penalty kick just wide of the post.

However, there was one incident by Villa that was completely missed by head referee Yuichi Nishimura of Japan in the 42nd minute.

That incident was a punch by David Villa on Hondurian defender Emilio Izaguirre right in front of the goal.

However, Nishimura only brought overr Villa and talked to him about the incident, setting aside a certain yellow card on Villa that he deserved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVrjnceW1kU

The Fernando Torres "Trip"

In Spain's final group-stage match, they faced Chile at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, with the winner clinching the top spot in Group H and the loser destined to face Brazil in the Round of 16.

With Spain up 1-0 and on the counterattack, Fernando Torres went forward and appeared to get tripped from behind by Marco Estrada just before Andres Iniesta was able to score to make the score 2-0 Spain.

After Iniesta's goal, Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez gave Estrada his second yellow card and his marching orders from the pitch.

However, replays clearly showed that Torres completely flopped to the ground, and his acting skills were a major reason why Spain won 2-1 and were able to avoid a date with fate against Brazil.

Meanwhile, Chile faced Brazil in the Round of 16 and lost 3-0, while Spain were paired up with Iberian Peninsula rival Portugal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-IcvwsYm9w

David Villa's Game-Winning Offsides Goal

In the 63rd minute of that match against Portugal, a brilliant back heel pass from Fernando Llorente got David Villa all alone with the Portuguese keeper Eduardo.

Being the goalscorer that he is, Villa was able to net home the only goal of the match off the post after Eduardo stopped the initial shot.

But a closer look on the replays show that Villa was slightly offsides when he was able to score the goal, and that the assistant referee's Ricardo Casas and Hernan Maidana were not at the correct angle to see that Villa was offsides.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0JN5YQbmkk

Ricardo Costa's "Elbow"

In the 89th minute of that match against Portugal, Spain's Joan Capdevila and Portugal's Ricardo Costa went up for a cross just outside of the penalty area when Capdevila faked an elbow to his face from Costa.

What made this play even more shameful is that head referee Hector Baldassi decided to give Costa a straight red card for Capdevila's dive, marking it the worst red card given out in the entire tournament.

This play also denied Portugal of having any real chance of tying the match and forcing extra time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FdrdZBUMw

Nelson Valdez' "Offsides" Goal

The final controversial call that I will look back upon is in the quarterfinal match between Paraguay and Spain at Ellis Park.

Early on in the match, Paraguay's Nelson Valdez scored a goal after receiving a long cross, but was ruled offsides.

However, a look at the replay indicates that not only was Valdez onside on the onset of the cross, but that the assistant referee was in no position to see if Valdez was offsides as Paraguay's Oscar Cardozo, who went up for the cross but missed it, was in the linesman's way.

Sadly, the two videos that showed this on YouTube were taken off for copyright violations by the video uploaders, so I cannot show you this play.

Finally, these five events were all major events that could have completely changed the entire complexion of how all four of these matches could have played out.

In all five cases, the referee made a terrible call that hurt Spain's opposition and allowed Spain to advance.

Now, in this semifinal against Germany, hopefully we won't see any of these terrible calls made, as it could hurt the quality of the football we see in Durban.