10 Ridiculous Refereeing Decisions That Almost Ruined Football

6. A Couple Of Early Whistle-blowers

http://youtu.be/S0JFuWqwFg4 While decisions such as sending offs, fouls and disallowed goals can often come down to the referee's discretion, and will always bring about controversy no matter the certainty of his choice. But, surely one area that cannot bring about contention is in the process of starting and ending a match. However, a couple of referees here have gone beyond the usual bounds to make sure that they are the most hated component of a match by the end of it. For instance, the great Brazilian superstar Zico was certain that he had scored the first goal of his illustrious career at the 1978 World Cup against Sweden, only for the referee to claim that he had blown the whistle mere seconds earlier, and the goal was disallowed to the great frustration of the Brazilian players and fans. This rare incidence was actually emulated in the English Premier League in 2000, in one of the most significant matches of any season, the Merseyside Derby. With the match heading for an unremarkable 0-0 draw, referee Graham Poll (remember this name for later) was prepared to blow the whistle and end the misery that he had spent the last ninety minutes overseeing. With the ball at goalkeeper Sander Westerveld's feet, Poll drew the whistle to his lips and blew, only to turn and realise that Westerveld's kick had bounced off of Don Hutchinson, over his head and into the empty net. Instead of allowing time to award the goal to Everton, Poll stuck to his error and ensured that the only interesting facet of the entire game was of no consequence whatsoever. http://youtu.be/B-GHqqI6nUA