Irish are piss-takers, and Blatter is an idiot!

Irish fans who brought this banner to the tournament have gained recognition all over the world as the ultimate piss-takers, but this was quite a poignant message to Chancellor Merkel. The message was clear – bore off. With the tournament being staged at a time when the Eurozone is in a complete meltdown, the Irish decided to go over and watch their beloved, yet grossly mediocre heroes get the shit kicked out them by Spain. Yet ironically, the most beautiful moment of the tournament came in that very game when the Irish fans serenaded Keane and co. with a chilling rendition of the ‘Fields of Athenry.’ From where I was sitting, in the pub that is, it was embarrassing to see the fans cheering such a crappy team. But after reflecting on it, I thought it was a nice touch from the fans. It certainly beats the wagons cheering ‘Ole Ole’ at a Jay-Z concert, I mean he’s black and in no way Irish, singing that ain’t gonna’ make him sing more songs! Ole is also Spanish, just saying!

Even FIFA head Sepp Blatter agrees now that it really is time to let cameras and computers determine whether a ball has fully crossed the goal line when the attacking side claims a goal and the defenders claim to have cleared it. About time the muppet caught up with reality! Ghost goals have long been part of the game — either those awarded that never crossed the line, or those denied that did — but the authorities tried to remedy those at Euro 2012 by stationing a referee’s assistant right behind the goal to adjudicate goal line calls that were too difficult for either the ref or the line judges to accurately call. And there was such an official on duty when Ukraine scored a goal against England that was disallowed. Humans make mistakes, particularly because they’re watching the play and have to turn their eyes to the goal line within a split second. Only a machine won’t be distracted by having to look in two places at once.

So, yes, goal line technology is now inevitable. But, the end of phantom goals will spoil the narrative of so many losing sides. This one worked in England’s favour (England fans will also tell you that Ukraine should have been called for offside in the build-up), but the last great clamour for the technology came after England’s Frank Lampard scored against Germany at World Cup 2010 but the ref didn’t see it. Then again, had there been goal line technology in 1966, England might still be waiting for its first-ever World Cup title.