There have been many controversial moments in soccer, but here are what Soccer Alarm thinks the biggest 4 are.
Frank Lampard’s Ghost Goal
This goal is one moment that has been said to be the one of the reasons goal line technology was created. Frank Lampard was playing in a game for the England National Team against the German National Team in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final when he shot the ball above German keeper Manuel Neuer and it bounced down off the crossbar and went clearly past the line and then Neuer recovered the ball. While the referee was 15 yards out, this was still a clear goal. The game ended in a defeat for England as they exited the World Cup with a 4-1 loss. But we can all still wonder where soccer would be today if this goal had counted.
Luis Suarez Handball
No African team had ever made it to the world cup semi final, but in the 2010 World Cup quarter final, Ghana was looking really close. There was madness in the box as the Ghanaian players desperately tried heading the ball into the net off a free kick in extra-time, and they finally got a good header, going straight into the net until it was cleared off the line by Luis Suarez… with his hand. The referee was quick to give a red card and penalty kick but the late shot hit the crossbar and Suarez celebrated as he walked off in the tunnel, and Uruguay won the game in penalty kicks. The good news for Ghana is that Uruguay went on to lose in semi final because Suarez couldn’t play, but an entire continents hopes were on the shoulders of Ghana, but they were cheated out of victory.
The Hand of God
In the 1986 World Cup, England were facing Argentina in the quarter-finals and won the game 2-1, then went on to win the competition. But the first goal for Argentina went down as one of the most well known plays in the history of soccer. Maradona went up to head the ball when himself and the England goalkeeper went up to get the ball but he ended up hitting into the back of the net with his hand. This is sometimes considered one of the best goals of all time just because of the fact that he got away with it. Although with modern technology this goal would be denied very quickly. After the game Maradona said (In Spanish) “Un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios,” which translates to a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.
The Beach Ball Goal
In October 2009 Sunderland were facing Liverpool at the Stadium of Light. In the 5th minute of the game, a 16-year-old Liverpool fan hit a beach ball into the box, just as Sunderland player Darren Bent shot the ball, it was a harmless shot headed directly towards the Liverpool keeper until it hit a beach ball and deflected into the Liverpool net, the goal counted and the game ended 1-0 with a victory for Sunderland. The referee should have stopped play the second that an ‘outside agent’ entered play, but no such call was made. The ball’s current home is the National Football Museum in Manchester.
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