Goal-line technology too late for Ukraine
Reuters - Tuesday 19 June 2012, 22:28
Goal-line technology is coming
soon but not soon enough for Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine who were
left with a bitter taste in their mouths on Tuesday after being
denied a possible equaliser in a 1-0 defeat by England which
ended their hopes.
Needing a win to go through, Ukraine appeared to have
equalised just past the hour mark when Marco Devic's shot was
half saved by England keeper Joe Hart and as the ball looped
goalwards it was hacked clear by John Terry.
Despite the extra official being just a few metres away the
ball was deemed not to have crossed the line despite television
replays, though inconclusive, suggesting otherwise.
With England jittery all night a goal then would have
whipped the home fans in Donetsk into a frenzy and they would
have had a chance of going on to win the game and finishing top
of Group D.
As it was, Ukraine's challenge faded and England finished
the night as group winners to book a last-eight clash with
Italy.
"What can I say? There are five referees on the pitch and
the ball was half a metre over the line," Ukraine coach Oleg
Blokhin, who remonstrated angrily with the fourth official at
the time, told reporters.
"Devic scored a goal and I don't know why it wasn't
allowed."
Ironically, it is the English FA which has been one of the
strongest supporters of the introduction of goalline technology
which is expected to be formally introduced by the International
Football Association Board on July 5.
Two years ago in South Africa England were denied a far
clearer equalising goal against Germany when Frank Lampard's
shot crashed off the underside of the crossbar and bounced well
over the line before being clawed out by Manuel Neuer.
England, trailing 2-1, at the time, went on to lose the game
4-1 and were knocked out of the tournament.
World governing body FIFA has been trialling two different
systems to help officials know whether a ball has crossed the
line. England's friendly against Belgium last month was one of
the test matches for HawkEye, the system used in tennis,
although it was not at the disposal of match officials.
A similar system called GoalRef has also been trialled in
two Danish league matches.
While the days of so-called "ghost goals" may be numbered,
Ukraine's bad luck will join a long list of high-profile
incidents another of which, the most famous, also involved
England in the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany.
On that occasion striker Geoff Hurst's shot off the underside
of the bar with the score at 2-2 in extra time was judged to
have bounced beyond the line by Azerbaijan linesman Tofik
Bakhramov despite replays suggesting it had not gone over.
It became one of the most talked-about football incidents of
all time and Bakhramov became something of a folk hero back home
and even had a statue modelled in his honour.
Hungarian Viktor Kassai, the referee on Tuesday as Ukraine's
hopes ebbed away, will not be quite as popular on the streets of
Kiev, Lviv and Donetsk, although by the time the World Cup kicks
off in Brazil, he may have cameras to help him and his four
assistants.