Argentina’s Five Invisible Goals Against Germany

July 4, 2010 — football, Germany, goals, Higuaín, Messi, soccer, Tévez, World Cup

Such are the sad limitations of human perception, especially when unaided by the most advanced video and electronic technology, that on Saturday 3^rd July Argentina were scandalously deprived of a 5 – 4 victory over Germany. Five sensational goals (two by Messi, two by Tévez, and one by Higuaín) were not merely disallowed – they went completely unnoticed by the referees, the spectators in the stadium and the hundreds of millions of viewers throughout the world; even the multitude of cameras focusing on the action failed miserably to record the grace and subtlety of the balletic movements that culminated in the five superb Argentine goals. In the face of such persistently blinkered, monolithic indifference to their achievements, the scoring players themselves lacked the self-confidence to muster even a mild (and, as is almost invariably the case in international football, ultimately futile) protest, and towards the end of the match their morale understandably collapsed.

It is high time that FIFA should monitor matches at World Cup level with the assistance of the latest metaphysical technology, which would have duly confirmed and credited the five goals that were generated by Messi’s sublime skills, Tévez’s superhumanly iron-willed commitment, Higuaín’s preternatural ability to lodge the ball within the net and, most of all, Maradona’s inspired fervour from the touchline. Until we introduce and systematically employ equipment that is at the cutting-edge of subliminal football verification, we will continue to end up with results that are blatantly unfair and grotesquely distorted, and thereby reward rustic teams, such as Germany, that merely run around quickly, pass the ball effectively and manage to push it past the goal line. Has football irreversibly declined to no more than this?