Schedule/Results:
|
Date
|
Home
|
Score (H)
|
Score (A)
|
Away
|
Hex Game
|
|
4-Jun
|
Jamaica
|
0
|
1
|
Mexico
|
6
|
|
7-Jun
|
Costa Rica
|
1
|
0
|
Honduras
|
4
|
|
7-Jun
|
Jamaica
|
1
|
2
|
United States
|
4
|
|
7-Jun
|
Panama
|
0
|
0
|
Mexico
|
4
|
|
11-Jun
|
Honduras
|
|
|
Jamaica
|
5
|
|
11-Jun
|
Mexico
|
|
|
Costa Rica
|
5
|
|
11-Jun
|
United States
|
|
|
Panama
|
5
|
|
18-Jun
|
Costa Rica
|
|
|
Panama
|
6
|
|
18-Jun
|
United States
|
|
|
Honduras
|
6
|
Updated Table:
|
Hex
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GD
|
GF
|
GA
|
Pnt
|
Pts/15
|
Pts/20
|
|
|
Costa Rica
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
7
|
15
|
19
|
|
|
United States
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
3
|
7
|
15
|
21
|
|
|
Mexico
|
5
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
7
|
11
|
18
|
|
|
Panama
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
6
|
11
|
16
|
|
|
Honduras
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-2
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
13
|
16
|
|
|
Jamaica
|
5
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
-4
|
2
|
6
|
2
|
7
|
11
|
Question: what on earth is happening with Mexico? The win against Jamaica was surely going to kick-start this team out of its slumber, right? As you can see above, another listless scoreless draw later, that does not appear to be the case.
It's not even the lack of results (well, it kind of is), but their inability to put the ball in the net is perplexing. Only Jamaica has scored fewer goals so far in the Hex, and Jamaica is pretty clearly the 6th team in this 6-team Hex.
I would prefer to talk about the game, but thanks to it being on beIn Sport, I couldn't watch it. Judging by the looks of the telecast from the highlights I saw, beIn Sport may simply be a high school production club. Thanks for putting money over fans, US Soccer/FIFA, well done.
Okay, let's get to the bad call:
See the guy in the yellow shirt on the very left of the mass of people? That's the Jamaican player who scored the tying goal in the 89th minute of Friday's USA-Jamaica game. This player is clearly in an offside position (less than 2 players between him and the goal he's trying to score on) at the time the kick is taken.
The linesman (light blue shirt just above the "JAM" in the score box near the top of the screen) should see this (and raise his flag to signal it). Why doesn't he? I'm not sure. But he's clearly out of position. A linesman is supposed to align himself with the second closest player to his own goal-line. In the picture above, there are 3 Team USA players closer to their own goal-line (including the not-pictured keeper) than the linesman.
Even with his terrible position, there does not appear to be anything obstructing the linesman's view of the offside player. My best guess? The linesman simply had a brainfart, and focused on the wrong section of the mass of players, and by the time he looked up to the bigger picture, he had no idea where the goalscorer had come from. And if he's not sure, he's not going to make a call.
Luckily for him, and for the US team, they scored less than 4 minutes later to take back the win, but this could have been a disastrous embarrassment for CONCACAF.
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