Rate The Ref - Rate Referee’s Performance in the Premier League, Champions League, World Cup, and local campaigns

22 Jun 2012 - 22:34 BSTTe Mana

Another great performance. Definitely a strong contender for the final. One thing that bothered me a little, though. On the goal disallowed to Germany for offside right at the beginning of the game (4th minute, I think). I think the offside call was good. The ball went in the goal. After he gets his minor medical attention, we ca see the Greek GK pick-up the ball inside the goal. Then, he places the ball at the point he would normally take a goal kick from, although the offside offense occurred closer to the top of the penalty box line. Not a big big deal but, after he kicks the ball, we can see, as the ball is about to land at the center of the pitch, that the Referee DOES NOT have his arm raised as he would normally have for an indirect free kick given to restart the play after an offside. This is the point that bothers me, and perhaps someone can explain this to me. Did the Referee forget that he had denied the goal due to an offside and restarted the play the wrong way? Or did he simply decide to overlook the offside and just decide to restart the play with a goal kick? - If that's the case, I think this would be a terrible mistake because if he decides to forget the offside offense, he MUST AWARD THE GOAL TO GERMANY because the ball did go INTO the Greek goal. Or did he not deny the goal because of an offside and instead denied it for a foul on the Greek Goal Keeper (by who?) and the Goal Keeper was not restarting the play with a goal kick but with a direct free kick (which would explain why the Referee does not have his arm raised). Thoughts, anyone?