USA vs. Slovenia World Cup - fire Koman Coulibaly!

Landon Donovan leads comeback

If there was any question World Cup Soccer was not popular in America, those questions were put to rest Friday. The USA, with star Landon Donovan at the helm, battled a game Slovenia team that many had to search for on the map, to a 2 - 2 tie. But the World Cup Soccer match score should have been "USA vs. Slovenia: USA 3, Slovenia 2."

That the USA's third goal scored by USA sub Maurice Edu, after Landon Donovan's initial kick, wasn't counted by referee Koman Coulibaly, who called a mysterious penalty accusing the USA for being offsides when there was no evidence to back such a claim, has sent many Americans into an angry lather.

I overhead one woman say to another at Merritt Station, an Oakland cafe, that she wasn't even a fan of Soccer and didn't start paying attention to it until today's game. She was so upset over the non-call, call, it was all she talked about to her friends.

The 3rd USA Goal 

Watching the game from The Steps of Rome in San Francisco's North Beach District, my friend Beth Schnitzer texted that the refs "stole the game" from the USA. A Facebook group called "Fire World Cup Ref Koman Coulibaly NOW!!!" has started and is gaining members. And a person unknown to many, World Cup Referee Koman Coulibaly, is now as well know to USA Soccer fans as Former NFL Ref Fred Swearingen - who made two very bad calls in two NFL playoff games - is to Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys fans.

Who is Koman Coulibaly?

While Koman Coulibaly is not known to the casual American soccer fan, Coulibaly's well-known in World soccer circles. Koman Coulibaly has been a referee since 1993. According to The World Referee, Koman was selected for the Africa Cup of nations in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. In 2010 Coulibaly was selected for The World Cup. while Koman's resume is impressive, that does not mean he's incapable of a mistake. This was a huge one.

As the video above shows, while Koman Coulibaly called an offside on the USA, there was no evidence of such. Moreover, the USA's own players were not told officially just what the call really was. Nothing. Zip.

The outcry against Mali-resident Koman Coulibaly is so loud, it has resulted in a brief revision of his Wikipedia page to read "Scientifically proven the worst referee of the century. The worst" according to The Sporting News, with a screen shot of Koman's Wikipedia page.

The non-call, call cost the USA a World Cup win. Now, the USA must beat Algeria and hope that England defeats Slovenia.

FIFA website fix?

You'd think the comments on FIFA's website about the USA v Slovenia match would reflect the outrage expressed by many Americans, but not one as of this writing concerns the call. I've got to believe FIFA's eliminating any comment that would call the outcome into question. That's the only reason for such a development and that's outrageous in itself.

Instant Replay for World Cup

The World Cup Soccer system and contest should have an instant replay provision.  These matches are too important to the World to allow games to be marred by such developments as the one today.

Stay tuned.