Another Tie for Father's Day

After reading Frank Mucci's informative article about soccer, I was prepared to root for the home team and watch the US play Slovenia in the World Cup. As you may know, the US had already tied the (supposedly) powerful England soccer team and so everyone knew Slovenia would be no match for the US.

Sure enough, by the end of the first half the US was...behind 0-2! Never fear, the US came roaring back to tie and then go ahead with the winning goal in the 86^th minute! YEA!!! Wait a minute...why are they taking away the last goal? For unexplained reasons, the referee called off the winning goal and the game officially ended in a tie!

Now, here's what makes soccer the entertaining sport it is - Sepp Blattner, the president of FIFA (the international soccer organization), has ignored demands for video replay and has decided against putting additional referees on the end line. He has said that he "likes the debate that follows matches, believing that uncertainty and subjectivity boost the sport"! So now I understand why this sport fits Frank Mucci so well - even the ruling body would rather be entertaining than right!

As a footnote, our English cousins also got their second tie when they failed to score a single goal against the powerful Algeria team that hasn't scored at all in this World Cup. So, I guess ties are popular again for this Father's Day weekend in the World Cup! It just never gets old, or does it?