Two mistakes, two penaltiesTitle...

One acceptable mistake, the other - not

Generally, Miss Keighley didn't have a bad day. most of her decisions wherever on the field were right and well-timed. There were some dubious decisions when the ball went out of touch or about issues of offside/onside, but mistakes concerning all these should be attributed mainly to Miss Walker (New Zealand), ar1(the Australian, Miss Flynn, ar2, performed much better). The two crucial mistakes took place in the first half, and as a matter of fact contributed to the entertainment, because however a game is well-played, a 1-1 result makes more fun than 0-0. The first one came in minute 31'. Rafferty (one of the two English players to play rough) deliberately pushed an opponent, who got possession of the ball, about a metre outside the English penalty-area. Both players proceeded the movement and tumbled inside the box. The referee awarded a penalty-kick. From Miss Keighly's position it was a sensible decision as she followed the diagonal to the left, and the infringement was committed on the right. Miss Walker should have seen and done better - she was in a perfect position and had a clear sight of the incident to give the ref. the necessary assistance - but she did not. Then, in the 39th minute, the other English player to not adhere to sportsmanship, their Captain, Houghton, resorted to the wile display of diving/simulation/gamesmanship (you name it), by theatrically throwing herself to the ground when surrounded by three opponents inside the Japanese penalty-area, when she lost any chance to recover the ball. Miss Keighly, well-positioned just outside the box, strangely fell for it and indicated to the penalty-spot.

Goal-line technology

After WC2010, the English clamoured for the introduction of goal-line technology, after Lampard's header against Germany wasn't allowed as "goal". They were also the first to introduce it in their league games. And they are probably the first to feel the pinch of it on a WC late (semi-final) stage. In minute 90'+2', Kawasumi (Japan) sent a long, penetrating ball towards Ogimi and another team-mate on the right-hand side of the Japanese attack. Laura Bassett tried to intecept, but the ball swerved from her foot, high above her goalie, hit the underneath of the crossbar, landed beyond the goal-line and bounced back onto the pitch. Had it been WWC2011, I'm pretty sure the ref. and ar2 wouldn't have allowed it because they were much farther away than Mr. Larionda and ar Espinosa had been in the Lampard "goal". I am sure that wherefrom the two ladies saw the ball landing, and in the circumstances (scoreline 1-1, the dying seconds of stoppage time), they couldn't be sure about it, sensibly giving the English the benefit of the doubt. But there was certainly the indication given by the new technology...