At the break RTÉ’s analysis focused on the farcical goal that wasn’t and the refusal of FIFA president Blatter to allow justice-affirming technology, or Michel Platini’s ‘goal-line officials’ compromise. Liam Brady said it served the Swiss eejit right after what happened to Ireland in the play-off against France, and his subsequent adding of insult to injury by laughing at our application to be admitted as a 33rd nation. (Given France’s no-show there were arguably only 31 there anyhow.)
This was different, however, in that there was no element of cheating involved. In essence, the failure to see Lampard’s strike come down off the crossbar and over the line by a couple of feet (if not the “four yards” measured by Alan Hansen; which he later revised to “a mile”) is no different to the case of an onside striker who finishes a move, only to be flagged ‘off’ by the linesman, something that happens with much more regularity. No German player defrauded anyone as Thierry Henry did in Paris. It was certainly serious human error by the referee and his assistants, but not a deliberate act of deception.
