English Blunder And German Excellence In Two Finals Miles Apart

Two decisions showed the class of officiating in England and Germany. English referees have blundered on numerous occasions in big games. The Germans have fared far better comparably.

The driving distance between  London and Berlin is about 1093.41 km. The DFB-Pokal or the German Cup final was held at the Olympiastadion in Berlin and the English FA Cup at the Wembley Stadium in London on the same day, Saturday, May 27.

By some strange coincidence, there was virtually an action-replay of a soccer movement in both games which led to the first goal being scored in either final.

Don’t Miss To Read: Football: Retrospective Bans For Diving In Offing Next Season

The decision to allow Borussia Dortmund’s goal by Ousmane Dembele against Eintracht Frankfurt was absolutely correct. But the decision to permit Alexis Sanchez’s strike for Arsenal against Chelsea was totally wrong and shocking.

It was Marcus Res who scooped the ball into the Frankfurt box for Kagawa who was palpably offside. The Japanese midfielder did not move an inch and did not interfere with play even as Dembele rushed from behind to tuck it in. German Referee Deniz Aytekin and his assistant Christian Dietz, who rightly did not raise the flag, were spot on with their decision to allow the goal to stand. Dortmund eventually won 2-1.

But English Referee Anthony Taylor and his assistant Gary Beswick made a hash of the very same situation and blundered badly.

Don’t Miss To Read: Fans Are Heart And Soul of Football Clubs

Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez latched onto a loose ball and lobbed it into the box. Ramsey, who was offside by yards, rushed forward and stopped after taking a couple of steps. His intention was clearly to interfere with play while in an offside position. Sanchez continued with his run and placed the ball in past Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois with the entire defense waiting for the offside flag.

Beswick did raise the flag. Taylor went over, consulted him and yet pointed to the centre awarding a goal. Ramsey had clearly taken advantage of being in an offside position. Had he, like Kagawa, not moved at all, it would have been a genuine goal. But that wasn’t the case. He stepped back and then went ahead, all when he was clearly offside. Chelsea were done-in as early as the 4th minute and though they recovered and fought, they lost 1-2 as Arsenal lifted the FA Cup, the World’s oldest competition now 146 years old, riding on that controversial goal which gave them a big boost so early in the game.

It also gave beleaguered manager Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal supporters a lot to cheer about. It was Wenger’s record seventh FA Cup success, the most by any manager in 146 years. Wenger has won the trophy in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015 and 2017. This includes the league and cup double thrice.

Also Read: Legalised Sports Betting The Way Forward

The two decisions showed the class of officiating in the two countries. English referees have bungled on numerous occasions in big games. The Germans have fared far better comparably.

It’s time English referees ensured that big games, especially the final of any event, is not marred by poor officiating

Read More Sports News:

• Kumble Episode: First The Blunder, Now The Cover-up
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni, The `Final’ Man
• AIFF Plays A Cruel Joke, Back To Old Tricks To Fool People
• Basketball: Oceania Nations May Make for Lopsided Competition Either Way
• It’s Real Madrid Vs Juventus
• Pele Is The Greatest; Maradona, Messi, Cristiano Stand in No Comparison
• Aizwal Keep Date With Destiny Despite Sabotage Attempts
• Why Dhoni Decided to Give up Captaincy?
• ISL, AIFF Violate Many FIFA Statues, But Who Cares?

Read More Latest News: 

• PhD Scholar Serves Parathas By Roadside At Night
• Kumble Episode: As Usual, It’s BCCI, The Board of Chaos and Confusion in India
• Burhan Wani Successor Sabzar Bhat Killed in Kashmir Encounter
• Indian Scientists Develop Drones With Human Brain As Command Centre
• KPS Gill: Lion of Punjab and Indian Hockey
• Melania’s Hands Do All the Talking During Trump Visit
• Buffalo War Grips Kerala as State Upset Over Modi’s New Cattle Law
• Lionel in a huge Messi situation, Gets 21-month sentence for tax fraud Dad Jorge
• Fake News is Venomous
• Facebook’s Manual to Live Streaming Suicides, Crimes: We Don’t Care
• Womb Transplant: Pune Creates Medical History
• Narendra Modi’s Political Mentor May Join Him