Uruguay should hold its head low,very low in fact, because like its its neighbour, Argentina, it has had its Hand of God (or more aptly, arm of the Anti-Christ) moment, not in this case to make a cheating goal, but to stop an honest goal.
Rather than be beaten by Ghana in an honest game, they cheated. And then had the lack of integrity to win on penalties. Shame on them!
Go on Uruguay, do the right thing, and withdraw from the competition. Be spectacular! Instead of losing against the Dutch ignominiously, go down in history forever as the team that put integrity before success and pulled out of the World Cup on a point of principle.
Post Match Analysis
Okay, Uruguay is not full of cheats, there was just one cheating action when Suarez used to arm to prevent a certain goal. Justice was not served in the quarter-final however it was in the semi-final. However Uruguay played fairly in that game, gave a good account of themselves with their tenacity, hard work and skill, and only narrowly went down to the Netherlands 3-2.
Given the professional nature of the sport, it is too much to expect Uruguay, or any other team in fact, not to take unfair advantage of a bad refereeing decision or weak rules. In cricket, a batsman used to walk before the empire gave him out, less so now. In golf, higher standards are still required on the course as Brian Davis proved a couple of months back. It is possible for a sportsman to have integrity but maybe it is easier to take difficult decisions as an individual than it is as a member of a team.
Penalty Goals And Television Replays
So back to football… how do we address this issue and get a better outcome? One suggestion I favour is to borrow the idea of the “penalty try” from rugby, and have the “penalty goal”. In the case where a definite goal has been prevented illegally then referee simply awards the goal and sends off the culprit. To make this work we would need the 4th official to be able to review the television footage to make sure the decision is a correct one. Justice is then served and the incentive to cheat is reduced. If the decision is incorrect then a drop ball on the penalty spot would be an exciting an equitable way to restart the game. Maybe the next World Cup in Brazil will bring us better rules and a better refereeing system.
