Don't forget when Gooch and Donovan both knocked over guys in the box recently. I've seen PKs given for less. I forget if Gooch was yesterday or against Egypt but Donovan was yesterday for sure. I agree with you in general, but we did get some calls. We got one against Canada in the Gold Cup that was highly debatable. That is what got us here in the first place.
Calls that went our way: JOB handball against Mexico in 2002, Feilhaber tackle against Pirlo from behind (not even a yellow!), highly dubious handball against Jamaica that gave us a penalty (qualifier in DC a couple cycles ago), Casey Keller taking down an Iranian player in 1998 on a breakaway (probably should have been a red card). It took me just a couple of minutes to come up with those. I'm sure there are many others. I bet the fans of just about any country think the calls go against their team too. It seems to be a universal phenomenon.
I've read this so many times on here over the last week about "Leaving your feet." I gotta know, what is so wrong with leaving your feet? Has the game changed so much that slide-tackling in itself is now considered a bad thing? I have come to accept that this is the way this tournament is being called and that any kind of tackling by a US player is risking a red card. However, I hate that our players would need to pull out of 50/50 challenges such as this. If that is a red card, something really stinks. It could be the ref misapplying the rule, or it could be FIFA telling the refs that this a bad challenge, but good hard challenges are part of the sport and that was a good hard challenge!
But it's not the way the tournament is being called....for any team except the US. There have been challenges/fouls similar to or worse than the ones that US players received red for in most games in this tournament (the most recent being the SF between Brazil and South Africa)...only US players have seen red for those challenges. What's even worse is that some of those similar/worse challenges/fouls have actually been perpetrated against the US by opponents in the very games where US players have sen red.
There was a one footed tackle with the bottom (of the boot) in the SA vs. Brazil game today that missed the ball and got all foot/ankle. Some differences were this tackle was from the side, no ball, South African player (vs. front, connected with ball, and American player). Result: Yellow card.
The picture doesn't do MB's tackle justice - he jumped in with a straight leg. It didn't come in a sweeping motion. Even if he'd missed the ball and the man entirely, they will usually get a yellow just for the action of jumping straight in.
I was just looking over the history of the Confederations Cup, and here's what I discovered... I recall watching a match against Turkey in Confederations Cup 2003 in which we were shafted twice by the referee. In the third minute, Landon Donovan was blatantly dragged down in the box by the last defender. Should have been a penalty kick and a red card for DOGSO, but the ref swallowed his whistle. Late in the first half, with the United States leading 1-0, a Turkish forward took a dive in the box, and the ref pointed to the spot. Turkey equalized and went on to win 2-1. So a few minutes ago I was surprised to read the name of that referee. It was none other than Jorge Larrionda. In other words, Italy in 2006 wasn't even the first time. Three games involving the US in major competitions, and we get victimized by very questionable calls in all three. If I were Sunil, I'd demand that Larrionda never work a US match again. Getting victimized by a referee once is unfortunate; twice starts to raise questions; three matches out of three is a clear pattern. Also, given the number of referees brought in, what are the chances of us getting Larrionda in three consecutive FIFA tournaments, especially when we went three-and-out in the first two of them?
I just watched it again. Ricardo Clark had just knocked the ball off of Xavi and it falls into a space between Bradley and Xabi Alonso. Both race to the ball. It's a 50/50 ball. Alonso arrives maybe a hundredth of a second before Bradley. As Bradley makes contact with the ball, he drops to his butt and slides. His heel is on the ground; his toes are off and initially on the ball. Alonso opens his foot (squares it to hit with his instep in attempt to control the ball). The ball squirts out. Bradley immediately pops back up. He doesn't really "jump in" and he's not really to ground like a good old Pablo Mastroeni death slide or a rash Frankie Hedjuk leap. His leg is never really straight or locked; his knee gives with the impact. I've seen this plenty of times in the Prem. Often there is no foul called at all. IMO this should be a caution at worst.
I agree with this assessment it was an agressive challenge to win the ball. Contact does occur in these plays. Of course, I am certain that in the referee's mind he doesn't see it as a 50/50 ball - he's thinking that this was another dangerous challenge by the unskilled Americans who really have no right to fight for the ball - we need to stay on our feet and give up posession to those skilled world footballers that are Italy, Spain, Turkey, etc. ...
Well, I simply disagree. Also since Diego's leg was shattered, they've given a lot of straight reds. The fact that a lot of us think it was worthy of a red - at least a possibility of a red, means that he shouldn't have done it. Alonso didn't jump in with all his force and momentum behind the ball, that was our Mr. Bradley and that my friend, is why he is not playing. I wouldn't even bother contesting this one to Fifa.
one day I'll learn to multi quote... I happen to agree with the above. That for some reason we (and other second tier powers) need to be whiter than white when playing against the stars of the world.