Biggest World Cup injustice

I was just coming to terms with it and now you hit me with more dastardly information? Sleep and I will be strangers for a while yet it would seem.

 

The Hand of God definitely and Schumacher’s challenge on Battiston 82 .
French were all over the Germans up to that point imo .

 

Italy won the final anyway.

 

That’s not an injustice though, that’s part & parcel of the game. There’s been loads of games where players have done similar.

An injustice would’ve been if it wasn’t spotted & Ghana didn’t even get a penalty / Suarez didn’t get a red

 

The fact that I never represented England at the ‘86 & ‘90 tournaments. Blummin injuries..

 

Exactly. Cynical in the extreme.

 

There's merit in the argument for a "penalty goal" in such circumstances, much like the penalty try in rugby. VAR could easily use predictive technology like in cricket so that if the ball would have entered the goal but for the handball, a goal would be given. If the ball wasn't going in then the referee would still award a penalty. That way, players wouldn't do what Suarez did because it would be pointless.

 

Might not have if France were the opponents .

 

Hand Of Junkie 1986 for me. How the hell the ref and linesmen thought a fat midget could outjump a 6 foot goalkeeper I'll never know.

 

2nd place for me would be 1982 France vs West Germany when Harald Schumacher committed GBH on Patrick Battiston. He should have been locked up.

Controversy at 1982 World Cup
See also: West Germany v France (1982 FIFA World Cup)
Schumacher was involved in a collision with a French defender, substitute Patrick Battiston, in the semi-final of the 1982 World Cup. Battiston and Schumacher were both sprinting towards a long through ball pass from Michel Platini. Battiston managed to reach the ball first and flicked it up and to the side of the approaching Schumacher. Schumacher leapt into the air as the ball sailed past him, ultimately wide of the goal. Schumacher, still in the air, collided with Battiston. The resulting contact left Battiston unconscious, later slipping into a coma. Schumacher has always denied any foul intention regarding the incident, saying that he was simply going for the ball, as a goalkeeper is entitled to do. Others have alleged that he intentionally collided with Battiston. Battiston also lost two teeth and had three cracked ribs. He received oxygen on the pitch. Michel Platini later said that he thought Battiston had died, because "he had no pulse and looked pale". The Dutch referee Charles Corver did not award a penalty for the incident. Schumacher proceeded to take the goal kick and play resumed. West Germany would eventually go on to win the game on penalty kicks after the match was tied at 3–3.

Schumacher caused more controversy after the game with his response to news that Battiston had lost two teeth: "If that's all that's wrong, tell him I'll pay for the crowns."

 

I desperately wanted Ghana to win Uruguay in 2010 and I've never been the biggest fan of Suarez, but I never hated him for that handball. In fact I felt a little sympathy for him after all the hate that he got, and saw the beautiful side of the incident - Suarez sacrificed himself in a desperate attempt to save his country, and it paid off obviously. The handball was so obvious that I wouldn't even call it cheating. Although that depends on how you define "cheating".

Players choose to break rules in every match. All players do that. Commentators always praise defenders for being clever when they stop a counter-attack with a deliberate foul - why are these so called "tactical fouls" acceptable, and how come it's not called cheating, when the only purpose of the foul is to stop the opposition from scoring? If Suarez had pulled down a player who's just about to score a certain goal, no one would talk about the incident twelve years later. (No one would have talked about it even twelve days later.) I see a deliberate handball as a less serious offense than ramming down another player.

I understand that Suarez will never be very popular in Ghana though!

 

As already mentioned, the selection of Peter Shilton (not the Hand of God) in 1986 and 1990. Reactions at the same speed as glacial drift.