This is a continuation of a discussion on the "(WC - FINAL!!!) Germany Vs Argentina July 13 Final" thread, from the World Cup Knockout Round Forum: "Not true. When he sees the play happening, several factors are at play in his mind, including influences such as a missed call earlier in the game, whether a player is already on a yellow, as well as some randomness in the ref's decision making due to human nature. Sure, that can happen. I would put that in the category of a generalized form of corruption, or at least referee misconduct. He is allowing considerations external to the play to influence his decision-making. We can all probably think of situations where we would be willing to let something like that go (e.g. overlooking a second yellow foul by a Brazilian near the end of the 7-1 rout), but under the LOTG a referee isn't supposed to factor in those types of considerations. "In this case, he got it wrong based on what he saw, and he doesn't need a replay with slow-mo and different angles to figure that out. In other cases, the ref made the correct call based on what he saw, but after consulting replays, realizes that he made the wrong call." I'm not sure what you're referring to here, because if it's the Neuer-Aguain collision he apparently did get it right "based on what he saw", but he saw it wrong, so he got the decision wrong. In any event, as I asked the other poster, why do we care if he got it right, based on what he saw? That is the part I don't get, why are even talking about whether he got it right based on his observations. The real issue is that for whatever reason (poor positioning, etc.) he saw it wrong, and therefore got the call wrong. This emphasis on whether he called it the way he saw it really has me perplexed.
Oh dear.... If this thread is still around after I've gotten some sleep and such I might have a go...