The refs hand signals were confusing if not wrong all day long. There is no way I will believe that was an indirect kick given the time that Bobby, Galin, and Dema (I think) spent talking over the ball and then Bobby dummied over the ball and Galin shot on goal. Our team surely thought it was a direct kick.
I think the dummy over the ball was supposed to include a touch, so that Ivanov's kick would have been good. (Or that was Ivanov's understanding. ) The Indirect signal was clear to me.
I don't know what was confusing about this example. The ref clearly indicated an indirect free kick, so if the players thought it was direct, they were the ones making a mistake. Not the ref. In this instance.
Some of us have tried to make this an analytical discussion but you continue to change the subject, to the Stoichkov bad call, or toss out insults.
And note that Columbus defended it as an indirect kick. Smaller wall, but lots of man-marking. How come they got the memo, and Ivanov didn't?
I think the ref did a fine job. It was an exciting game. Was the game decided by the ref? It wasn't. Columbus got a PK, DC got a PK. Stoitchkov did a fine job getting the PK-maybe it shouldn't have been called, which can be debated for ages, but it was. So get over it already!!
MODERATOR'S NOTE It would please me to no end if certain posters would desist with the personal attacks. You got your digs in now let it drop. If you're not going to discuss the thread topic (i.e. was it the right call i.e. a laws of the game kind of thing) please find time to have some fun in the MLS rivalries section. You have been warned the next step is wanton deletions. BTW the vast majority of posters here are on topic and, though it is certainly not required (hell on Big Soccer it's not expected) well reasoned/researched. Go to. Kelly "Jack Booted Thug & All Around Swell Guy"
I think he gets it, just no one's translated it for him (silence. close-up shot of Ivanov, turning the memo upside down, sideways, flipping it over to look at the back, scratching his head, trying to make sense of it, as camera pans out and sounds gently comes up to reveal that play has restarted around him. medium-distance shot: Convey, on the other side of the field, chips the ball high into the air. close up: Ivanov's head and shoulders. the ball hits him in the back of the head. shot of the memo, drifting slowly to the field. fade to black, then up to blue: IBM logo and text "IBM, the communciations experts. Because everyone needs to be on the same page.")