The truth is that Mazic is just following a long-standing tradition, according to which, whenever a former World Champion plays a first-round game against a team which has never won a World Cup, it is entitled to a dubious penalty ruling. Don't believe it? Look at the evidence: Brazil, Spain, Uruguay, and France, all of them former champions, were awarded dubious penalty kicks under this rule. So far, Argentina was the only exception (but that's because they wisely chose to save their penalty for a later game). Notice that for England and Italy, also former champions, the rule didn't apply, as they played against each other.
Having said that, referee Milorad Mazic exhibited considerable bias when he single-handedly injured two of Portugal's players, and unjustly sent off well-meaning Pepe with a red card.
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| Picture showing Pepe, who is gently brushing his head against Müller while inquiring about the German player's wellbeing |
Today was also the first tie in the World Cup: Iran 0 - Nigeria 0. The other game was Ghana 1 - USA 2. As usual, the updated standings can be found here.
Everybody knows that the dubious penalty rule only applies if you are not awarded a self-goal in the first 20 minutes of the game.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. That way the other team is not exposed to yelllow/red cards. Well played, Bosnia & H.
DeleteWhere's "The Against"? I challenge him to wake up from hibernation...
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Who are you Anonymous? Do you claim to be a member of the infamous hacker gang?
ReplyDelete