After the conclusion of Euro 2012 earlier this month, we learned two things: Spain is by far and away the best team now and of the decade, but more importantly, two, that the need for goal line technology in soccer is eminent.
As the goal line debate still lingers in the heads of all the soccer associations of the world, two rationales dominate the discussion. One, held by International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), cries for the use of technology—because it brings unprecedented accuracy to the game. As any English fan would tell you, certainty should be a priority as England has now experienced both the devastation and the fruits of poor calls. In a 2010 round of 16 World Cup match, England midfielder Frank Lampard had his goal disallowed leaving England still trailing Germany 2-1 in the game. England, as the game went on, became more desperate in pursuing an equalizer. Thinning their defensive unity in an attempt to get numbers forward in the attack, England, as a result conceded two more late goals to Germany before being eliminated from the competition. In the recent Euro 2012, England’s captain and center back John Terry had a last second ditch effort to clear a ball off his own goal line preserving England’s 1-0 win over Ukraine, advancing England into the next round. However, when viewed in the replays after the game, it was clear that the ball crossed the goal line. Point being, this new technology inspires hope that it will be able to eliminate these missed calls.
[caption id="attachment_208" align="alignleft" width="217" caption="The goal scored by Maradona using his hand, shown here, shifted the outcome of the game in Argentina's favor seemingly calling for the end to controversial missed calls and the beginning of the "getting it right phase""]
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On the other hand, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) leads the “old school” outlook on the argument, asserting that the game is simply one that cannot be judged perfectly and all of the missed calls during the games are another component of the sport. The unpredictability of the game has brought us some of the most memorable and controversial missed calls in all of sports. The term “Hand of God,” stems from the Maradona hand balling a ball into the opposing teams net to score a goal in the 1986 World Cup. In that same game, Maradona carrying on from his earlier “heroics” scored the game winner in what was considered to be the greatest World Cup goal of all time. While these missed calls do have an effect on the game, soccer is a constantly moving game with no breaks or opportunities to review missed calls. To this side of the argument, instituting this kind of technology is almost like trying to rewrite the happenings of the game, to rewrite the rules, to remove the wow factor out of the game. Essentially, it could destroy the game as we know it.
As the two governing bodies of the game, FIFA and UEFA divergent in opinion on the issue argue, they leave avid soccer fans across the world wondering, doesn’t such a pivotal moment in the game deserve an extra look to make the correct call? After all, goals swing momentum, tactical maneuvers and outcomes of games in favor of one team or another.
In an ironic twist of fate, Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States is taking initiative on the matter. In a country in which soccer is starting to garner popularity, the MLS has recently declared that it will install the new goal line technology by 2013. Thus, making the MLS a testing ground for the rest of the world to watch and whose results could ultimately become imperative of what the rest of the world decides to do. Logic says that goal line technology will soon be used worldwide and in any major event. But for now, we all have to be patient.
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