The introduction of goal line technology; Good or Bad?
In the 2010 World Cup quarter finals in South Africa, Frank Lampard had a shot for England against Germany which crossed the line so clearly it would have taken a blind, idiot not to have seen this. Unfortunately this very person was the linesman. Now I’m not saying we would’ve have gone on to win the game as we were playing like complete idiots our self – as you’d expect with Gareth Barry in the middle of the pitch – however a consolation goal would have eased the final score and maybe not have made us look as bad as we actually were and to be honest a goal disallowed couldn‘t have happened to a nicer guy in Lampard. Despite heavy protests from the media for goal line technology, the calls went unanswered from F.I.F.A. Perhaps this was payback for Geoff Hursts goal in the 1966 World Cup final, but it was still unfair.
However when England played Ukraine and Marko Devic lobbed Joe Hart, it took an acrobatic clearance from John Terry (Chelsea connection) to deny the goal, except that the ball actually crossed the line by ten inches. Now this was a much easier decision for the 5th official standing 2 yards away staring at the goal line except he too was lacking the ability to tell whether the ball had crossed the line from a much shorter distance. This time as a decision went in Englands favour, the decision from Michel Platini, Sepp Blatter and co. to whether or not too goal line technology was unanimously in favour of goal line technology.
Yet again in the F.A. cup semi final when Spurs played Chelsea the ball was poked towards goal and cleared off the line by Benoit Assou Ekotto, yet referee Martin Atkinson had other ideas awarding the goal, despite replays showing it never crossed the line. Its surprisingly I’m actually against goal line technology. If you’d have asked me on the night of the semi final as I was crying into my pillow I would have said otherwise but imagine football with it.