10 Ridiculous Refereeing Decisions That Almost Ruined Football

3. Jorge Larrionda and Mauricio Espinosa (England vs. Germany, 2010)

http://youtu.be/WML0aP4jo_g The most recent entry on this list looks to be having a major bearing on changes to the use of referees and technology in football due to the severity of the officials' cock-up. A fixture doesn't often get more heated than a game between England and Germany, with a longstanding rivalry stretching back decades. So, if you are a referee than it is for the best that you don't want either of the loyal fans of these nations despising you for all eternity. Nobody appears to have taught the importance of this fixture to referee Jorge Larrionda and linesman Mauricio Espinosa, because if you are going to make an almighty blunder, this is not the game to do it in. With England down two goals early in the first half, they had just pulled a goal back when they launched a quick offensive. Frank Lampard controlled a bouncing ball and half-volleyed it over the keeper, hitting the crossbar and bouncing a yard past the line and then away from the goal. However, the fact that you could have fit another ball in the gap between the bounce and the goal line, the officials still decided that it was not clear enough that a goal had been scored. After the embarrassment that this incident brought back to FIFA and President Sepp Blatter, the subject of goal-line technology was brought back to the forefront of discussion. Now, the use of companies such as GoalControl have now been tested and employed in the current Confederations Cup. So, in the end this disallowed goal could lead to a great deal of good in the footballing world in the future. Therefore, perhaps we should be thanking Mr. Larrionda and Mr. Espinosa for finally illustrating to FIFA how incompetent certain referees can be in high pressure situations.