Ghost goal

A ghost goal, also known as a phantom goal, is a term used in association football to describe a questionable decision, usually involving incertitude or controversy as to whether or not a ball crossed the goal line. A ghost goal can be awarded without the ball ever crossing the goal-line and, conversely, the term can be applied when the ball crosses the goal-line unseen by the referee.

Etymology

The term arose from a quote by Chelsea manager José Mourinho following a 2004–05 UEFA Champions League semi-final against Liverpool, ultimately decided by a single goal by Luis García, awarded by referee Ľuboš Micheľ, but dubbed a "ghost goal" and described as "a goal that came from the moon" by Mourinho.^[1]

Television replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball crossed the line or not. Micheľ said that his decision was based on the reaction of the assistant referee, who signaled that the ball had indeed crossed over the line, but had he not awarded Liverpool the goal, he would have had no other alternative but to award them a penalty kick and send off Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech for a foul on Milan Baroš instead.^[2]

After studying a series of still images of the incident, motion expert Dr Mike Spann concluded that Micheľ had made the correct decision by signaling a goal. "The positioning and body movements of Chelsea's William Gallas, who tried to clear Luis García's shot with his right foot, as well as the movement of the ball relative to Gallas, led Spann to conclude: 'It was a goal'."^[3]

After the 2005 incident, the terms "ghost goal" and "phantom goal" have both been used to describe similar incidents at both club and international level.^[4][5]

In Germany, the term "Phantomtor" usually refers to the Bundesliga "goal" scored by Thomas Helmer in 1994. It was an error by the match officials, with the ball just missing the goal. It also was an important goal, as it directly influenced the outcome of the competition and led to an official objection by FIFA because the German Football Federation ordered a re-match.

Incidents at club level

A few months prior to the incident at Anfield, Pedro Mendes of Tottenham Hotspur caught Manchester United's goalkeeper Roy Carroll off his line with a shot from 55 yards out, in the 89th minute of a Premier League match in January 2005. Carroll unconvincingly caught the shot and spilled the ball over his shoulder and a few yards over the goal line, before scooping the ball back into the playing area. Referee Mark Clattenburg and his officials were unable to determine whether the ball had crossed the line and the game finished goalless.^[6]

Referee Stuart Attwell awarded a goal to Reading against Watford in an English Football League Championship match in September 2008 - despite the ball having passed wide of the goal, meaning his assistant should have awarded a corner kick; the match finished 2–2.^[7][8][9] A similar incident happened in a German 2. Fußball-Bundesliga match between MSV Duisburg and FSV Frankfurt when Christian Tiffert took a shot that hit the crossbar and landed 1.5 m outside of the goal-line yet was still awarded as a goal.

Conversely, during an English Championship game in August 2009, Crystal Palace's Freddie Sears put the ball in the net, hitting the stanchion at the back of the goal, but rapidly bounced out. A goal was not awarded.^[10] This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred in a match involving the London club, however; during a match away to Coventry City on 6 September 1980, Clive Allen took a free-kick which thumped against the right-hand stanchion inside the goal (from Allen's view) before coming back out again. After much arguing and consulting with his assistant, the referee decided that the ball had not crossed the line.

Another notable ghost goal in England came in a game between Bolton Wanderers and Queen's Park Rangers on 10 March 2012, when QPR's Clint Hill headed the ball in from close range, crossing the line by a couple of yards, before keeper Ádám Bogdán was able to palm the ball onto the crossbar and out. The goal was not awarded. The Football Association subsequently called for goal-line technology to be implemented as soon as possible. This incident was also notable for the fact the corner had been wrongly given, meaning that two bad decisions evened themselves out.

On 15 April 2012, in Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, referee Martin Atkinson awarded Chelsea a goal resulting from a 49th minute shot by Juan Mata. Atkinson ruled that the shot had crossed the line, despite replays confirming that several Tottenham players had successfully blocked the effort at a point several yards in front of the goal-line.^[11] John Terry, the Chelsea player with the clearest view of the "goal" from his vantage point on the ground, admitted uncertainty: “I thought it hit me, if I'm honest. I don't think it did [cross the line], I thought it stayed out, but I've not seen it on the replay.”^[12]

On 17 March 2013, another phantom goal was inexplicably given during a Spanish third division game between Quintanar del Rey and Toledo. A Quintanar player lashed a shot from distance which hit the underside of the bar and then safely be cleaned up by the opposition defense. Without a single appeal about the ball crossing the line had been made by the Quintanar players, the match continued after the Toledo goalkeeper collected the loose ball. But, for reasons known only to himself, the referee decided to award the goal.^[13]

On 18 October 2013, Stefan Kießling from Bayer Leverkusen was involved in a situation against Hoffenheim. He appeared to have missed the net on a header attempt off a corner. He turned away in frustration only to have his teammates come celebrate with him seconds later. Upon further review, the ball ended up in the back of the net after squeezing through a hole in the side netting, unnoticed by everybody at the time. The goal was allowed and was the cause of much debate after the game.

Incidents at international level

1966 World Cup Final

Geoff Hurst's "Wembley goal" during the 1966 World Cup final.

With 11 minutes of extra-time elapsed and the score level at 2-2, Alan Ball put in a cross to England striker Geoff Hurst, who swivelled and shot from close range. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar bouncing down towards the line and bounced off the ground before being cleared away by West Germany's defenders.^[14]

The England players celebrated a goal, but referee Gottfried Dienst was uncertain if they had indeed scored. He consulted his assistant, Tofik Bahramov; after non-verbal communication, as they had no common language, the Swiss referee awarded the goal to the home team. The crowd and the audience of 400 million television viewers were left unsure whether the ball had crossed the line and whether the goal should have been given or not.

Bahramov, from Azerbaijan, became famous and celebrated in English popular culture as "the Russian linesman", as Azerbaijan was part of the USSR at the time, and the nickname stuck to the point where his real name was almost all but forgotten. Bahramov also became famous in his home land. Azerbaijan's national football stadium was named after him and a statue was built. When England played the Azerbaijan national team in a World Cup qualifier in October 2004 — in the stadium named after Bahramov — many England fans travelling to the game asked to be shown the grave of the official, who had died in 1996, so that they could place flowers on it, and before the game a ceremony honouring him was attended by Hurst and other footballing celebrities.^[15]

In England, supporters cite the good position of the linesman and the statement of Roger Hunt, the nearest England player to the ball, who claimed it was a goal and that was why he wheeled away in celebration rather than attempting to tap the rebounding ball in.

According to the Laws of the Game the definition of a goal is when "the whole of the ball passes over the goal line".^[16] The Germans argue that if that were the case, it would likely have bounced from there into the net, not out on the field as it did. In addition, German players claimed to have seen chalk dust, which would indicate it was not a goal and that the ball had merely bounced on the goal-line. The English counter by saying that the backspin put on the ball after hitting the crossbar could just as likely have caused the ball to bounce behind the line and then back out of the goal. Hunt claimed to have seen the ball bounce behind the line.

When Bahramov wrote his memoirs, he stated that he believed the ball had bounced back not from the crossbar, but from the net, so the further movement of the ball was already insignificant, and not visible for him either so it did not matter where the ball hit the ground anyway.^{[citation needed]} Referee Dienst did not see the scene. Commentators such as Robert Becker of Kicker magazine accused the assistant of bias because the German team eliminated the Soviets in the semi-final.^[17]

A study conducted by the engineering department at Oxford University concluded that the ball did not cross the line entirely and that it was 6 cm away from being a goal.^[18] In Germany it led to the creation of the expression Wembley-Tor, or "Wembley goal", a phrase used to describe any goal or non goal scored in a similar fashion to Hurst's.

There exists colour footage of Hurst's goal, taken from another angle by an amateur cameraman situated on the stands and having a view almost parallel to the English goal line. This film material appears to show that the ball did not cross the goal line in full.^[19]

England went on to win the match 4-2.

England v Germany at the 2010 World Cup

Ghost goal during the England v Germany game at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

On 27 June 2010, England were playing Germany in the knockout round of the 2010 World Cup in Bloemfontein. In the 38th minute, 53 seconds after Matthew Upson had scored for England, Frank Lampard shot the ball and it hit the underside of the crossbar, resulting in it crossing the line into the goal but bouncing back into the field of play due to backspin (without hitting the net). Neither the referee or his assistant were in a position to award the goal.^[20] Had the goal been given, England would have drawn level at 2–2. Germany, where this goal was given names like "Wembley goal reloaded", "inverted Wembley goal" or "revenge for Wembley", went on to win the game 4–1.

England v Ukraine at Euro 2012

On 19 June 2012, on the final matchday of the group stage of UEFA Euro 2012, the match between England and Ukraine featured a ghost goal by Ukraine's Marko Dević. With the co-hosts trailing 0–1 to a 48th-minute headed goal by Wayne Rooney, Dević's shot was hooked clear from behind the England goal-line by John Terry under the eyes of a fifth official standing beside the goal.^{[21][22][23][24]} While replays also showed Artem Milevskiy in an offside position in the build-up to Dević's ghost goal,^[25] the following day, UEFA and its chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina admitted an error had been made and that Ukraine had been denied a legitimate goal.^[26][27] FIFA president Sepp Blatter called the use of technology "a necessity".^[28]

See also

• Video referee
• Photo finish
• Goal-line technology

References

External links

• Croud footage of the 2005 incident