Is goal-line technology a must in football after events during the summer?

Mr Platini came out last year stating that there was no need for goal-line technology in football, and he also said all referee's had his full belief that they'd do their job properly.

However, on the world's biggest stage this summer, the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, we saw two massive decisions in the last 16 stage which changed two games dramatically. The first, and one which many Englishmen will remember, was during Germany and England's last 16 knockout match, with Germany 2-1 up. England were on top and then, Lampard's shot from the edge of the box struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down, with the Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda ruling the ball had not crossed the goalline. TV Replays showed the exact opposite, and the ball was yards over the line. The other incident I was talking about was later that day, when Mexico and Argentina met in the last 16. Mexico were comfortably handling the strong Argentinian forward line, until Carlos Tevez seemed to have finally broken through the resolute defence. TV Replays were put on the massive scoreboard at Soccer City and the whole Mexican team saw that Tevez was clearly offside

The moment which caused controversy around the world

And now, 2 months on, in only the 2nd week of the Premier League season, we saw Chris Foy, a relatively experienced referee, miss an obvious goal at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke, which left Stoke City going home with no points whilst Tottenham got the full 3. Only a few yards from the incident, it was clear for Chris Foy to see that Jonathan Walters headed the ball into Peter Crouch's stomach, which was in the goalmouth! Tony Pulis was obviously angered, and his team was as well.

Sepp Blatter has even admitted last month that goal-line technology needs to be discussed at FIFA's next meeting. People argue that it will kill the drama of football, which is understandable, but it is costing team's points. What if Stoke City get relegated by 1 point? They have been cheated out of a point, so it really isn't a topic we can stall about. Lower league teams do not have the equipment that bigger teams have, so wouldn't it be clever to just trial this technology in the major European leagues? Then if its a success, it can go across the world.

We are rapidly moving through a technological era, and this technology will significantly improve the game. It is clear that Rugby has been a success since technology has been introduced, so does football need to get with the times? However, my only argument against goal line technology is will the entertainment value of football be removed?

Nerveless New Zealand clinch Tri Nations crown in dramatic win

New Zealand clinched their seventh Tri-Nations in the last 9 years by beating a very out of form South Africa side 29-22 last Saturday. The tri nations series hasn't finished yet, with New Zealand still to play 1 game, whilst Australia have 3 games and South Africa with 2 games yet to play. However, Australia and South Africa will now have to fight it out for 2nd place as New Zealand showed their superiority in the world of Rugby Union by winning all 5 matches.

South Africa did put up a resolute defensive performance, and were leading 22-17 until the last few moments, when New Zealand clinched an enthralling win by converting 2 late tries. The first of the 2 tries in the 78th minute sparked a lot of controversy, with South African coaches saying that there was a forward pass in the build up to Richie McCaw's try. But it was given, and the try levelled the scores at 22-22, although Dan Carter missed the subsequent conversion from the far touchline which would have given New Zealand a two-point lead.

With a draw seemingly on the cards, the New Zealand substitute Isreal Dagg defied all odds and ensured New Zealand extended their winning run to 14 successive matches when he outsprinted full-back Gio Aplon after centre Nonu carved through the shambolic Springbok defence. And Dan Carter, who missed five of his nine attempts at goal at the stadium formerly known as Soccer City, added the conversion in front of the posts before the final whistle.

It was a cruel blow for the South African captain John Smit, whose 100th test appearance saw his side only lose the lead once in the whole game, and that was in the defining moments of this tense affair. One of the largest crowds ever for a Rugby International were also hit hard by the defeat, having to come to reality that the current world champions were no real match for the All Blacks and slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat, and with only one point, are seemingly resigned to finishing last in the Tri Nations 2010.

Final day drama in the Cricket

Pakistan's Umar Akmal celebrates victory over England








Even though we were only in the 4th day of events at the Brit Oval, it was obvious that this match would be finished before the close of play on the 5th day, with Pakistan only needing 148 runs to win the 3rd test match of this series, and give themselves a chance of drawing the series 2-2.

England's last line of defence was broken in the first over of day 4, with Steven Finn getting one run before Stuart Broad was caught at mid-on by Mohammad Asif. So, with only 148 runs needed to win, this seemed like a straight forward job, but we are talking about a team who usually crumble under pressure.

However, Pakistan were determined to prove all their doubters wrong, but it started badly when Graeme Swann caught Yasir Hameed on the 2nd attempt, after nearly dropping the edge after Anderson's beautiful delivery. This gave England a huge boost of confidence to pull off an unlikely victory.

But there was still a long way to go, and Pakistan showed this by strolling past the 100 run mark, losing only 3 wickets with Imran Farhat, Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf all getting decent scores, passing the 30 run mark and the captain Salman Butt was even 2 runs off a half century before being caught by Paul Collingwood. However, I don’t think Butt would’ve been too fussed, with Pakistan only needing 45 runs for a famous victory.

After coming out from lunch on 115-3, we started to see the first signs of Pakistan’s nerves and they made hard work to try and win the game. They lost their 4th wicket for 124 runs, with Azhar Ali being the victim of a very silly run out. It went from bad to worse, however, with Mohammad Yousuf being bowled by Anderson to put Pakistan on 131-5. England started to gain some emphasis in the game, and grabbed another wicket after Kamran Akmal was given LBW from a very good delivery by off spinner Graeme Swann. This led to a very baron spell for Pakistan, and underwent extreme pressure from both Anderson and Swann, and it seemed unlikely they would even get a run.

They did find the 16 runs in the end, and cruised to an unlikely victory when the match started on Wednesday. Some great individual performances including the captain Salman Butt for his 48 in Pakistan’s 2nd innings, and Saeed Ajmal’s very impressive 7-71 in 31 overs. I do think however that England will bounce back from this shock defeat and win the last match at Lords to make it 3-1 in the series.

England vs Pakistan: 3rd Test at the Oval

The 3rd Test was predicted to be another white-wash victory for England, with Pakistan's batting order being nothing short of abysmal. And with the overhead conditions, and a pitch perfect for seam bowling, it seemed that after England won the toss and chose to bat first was quite a strange decision.

Their decision proved to backfire after they lost 7 wickets for only 94 runs, with a mixture of a brilliant bowling display by Pakistan and a shocking display with the bat for the Englishman, with the top scorer being Eoin Morgan with a mere 17 runs. However, there seemed to be a hint of some light at the end of the tunnel, with an impressive 84 by wicket-keeper Matt Prior. His partnership with Stuart Broad got England to 213-8. However, in the end England could only manage a poor 233. The highlight was Pakistan's Wahab Riaz, who claimed a very impressive 5-63.

This put Pakistan in a strong position to attempt to capitalize on England's underestimations of their young, inexperienced side, and they certainly did this, ending their first innings on 308, giving them a lead of 75 runs. This was much better than their recent batting scores against England!! The highest scorer was Azhar Ali, who was only playing his 5th competitive test match for Pakistan, once again showing how young this Pakistan side actually is. Even if he hadn't played many games before, he was making batting look like a stroll in the park with his variety of strokes. Mohammad Yousuf also had a decent innings, grabbing himself a solid 56 from 102 balls.

England's 2nd innings needed to be a much improved one, otherwise they could be staring at defeat in the 3rd test. However, it wouldn't be an easy task, with Pakistan seeking a win to make the score 2-1 and give them a possible chance of drawing the series against the current T20 world champions. It wasn't the start England wanted though, with Andrew Strauss being caught and bowled for just 4. The introduction of James Anderson as night watchmen at number 3 seemed to give England some stability, and they got to a decent 194-4, with Alastair Cook grabbing his 13th Test Match century, eventually being caught by the wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal for 110. Jonathan Trott also contributed to the total with a reasonable 36. One of the worrying aspects for me was how Kevin Pietersen once again had a very average, if not poor, innings. With the Ashes coming up this winter, will the England selectors be prepared to drop him for arguably the most important test series in World Cricket??

Back to the game, and a storm was approaching for England, and it wasn't going to be very nice. After tea on day 3, their collapse was unbearable as an England supporter, seeing Pakistan take 6 wickets for only 26 runs, dreadful. With England on 221-9 at the close of play of Day 3, I cannot see the last 2 holding on for long tomorrow morning. Hopefully, Broad can get a decent half century without taking any risks. With a lead of only 146 runs, we need a resolute batting performance by lunch tomorrow and hopefully Andersen and co. can do us a favour in the bowling department!

I will report back the last events of this thrilling test match when it finishes.

The start of my blog

Hey to all who are reading this. My name is Aaron Leggott and I am a keen follower of Sport, mainly Football. I am about to start my 2nd year in a Sixth form college and having to think about applying for University in a couple of months. I have my eye set on a course in Sports Journalism, and this is the major reason for the creation of this blog, so I can work on my writing skills and hopefully give myself a better chance of getting onto the course!

I hope you all enjoy reading my views on the major sporting events and also tell me what your thoughts are.