But...you had some help...queue Referee Koman Coulibaly of Mali (who is refereeing his first, hopefully last, World Cup game) who added his unique stamp to the hearts and minds of all US soccer fans. Even as U.S. players enveloped him with bodies and pleading for an explanation, Coulibaly kept his trap snapped firmly shut which is (ridiculously) his right under FIFA rules.
In the US/Slovenia match, a deep schism became clearly apparent...this is not [American] football, where officials make microphone-enhanced calls to the viewing audience, neither is it basketball nor hockey where hand signals betray each trip, slash and charging penalty. It's not even the case where a manager can come out on field and argue with the umpire as in baseball. In the soccer (with FIFA's blessing) a ref is king of his kingdom and beholden to no man, woman or pissed-off footballer. For once, it's America, with its sometimes non-sensical sports like football (at least in name) where the use of a player's foot is only ever so often required which seems to make perfect sense when weighed against the practices of soccer's internationally-governing body, FIFA.
However, the football travesty of the US/Slovenia match is having a galvanizing effect on US soccer fans. We've been wronged, and for the first time, casual soccer fans now have a reason to watch (and cheer for) our nation's team in the World Cup.
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