I know this is not an everyday activity, actually it may be in some parts of the world, but i have to weigh in on the ending to yesterday's Uruguay-Ghana quarterfinal World Cup game. On the last play of the extra time period, after a wild scramble in front of Uruguay's goal area, a Ghana player headed a ball that was heading straight to the back of the net for the game winner. As the ball was about to cross the line into the goal, an Uruguayan player, not the goalie, jumped and with both hands slapped the ball away. In doing so, he stopped the ball from going into the goal and saving his team for the time being. Ghana was awarded a penalty shot and the Uruguayan player walked off the field sobbing after receiving a red card and being ejected from the game. The penalty shot would be the last play of the game and if successful, Ghana would move on to the semi-finals. With the weight of his team and the entire African nation, the Ghana player kicked the ball, it hit the top crossbar and the win was lost. Now, both teams went to the penalty shoot-out to determine a winner, which Uruguay came out on top. So by breaking the rules, Uruguay is moving on and Ghana is packing up for another 4 years.
My suggestion would be for
FIFA to review and change the rule for this scenario.
- If a shot is clearly headed for an opponents goal and a non-goalie player standing on the goal line, as a last resort, uses his/her hand(s) to stop the ball from crossing the goal line, the play should result in a goal for the offensive team.
Seems like a fair and simple change to a complicated rule.
