I just read yet another reaction to the controversial and widely regarded as incorrect penalty awarded to Brazil’s Fred in the World Cup opener against Croatia. All of this talk has gotten me thinking about whether FIFA should find a way to solve this from happening. I keep hearing how it is part of the game and it keeps the human element but it does not seem right to me.

In many ways, I feel like Croatia was cheated of a chance to beat Brazil. Would if not have been more beneficial to introduce replay capabilities to review the legitimacy of penalties. I think it would make sense to add it. It would eliminate any bias or uncertainty from the official. It also would not make much of a difference to have the review. The official can simply add stoppage time to compensate for it. It seems only like a logical progression. Every other major sport utilizes replay technology, which is more than accessible.

It also helps in other situations as well. After watching Mexico play Cameroon and seeing on two separate occasions a goal wrongly disallowed for Mexico. Mexico eventually won the game 1-0 but what if they hadn’t. If somehow Cameroon had scored in the game and forced a draw, Mexico loses out on two points in the world’s biggest competition. They would have been robbed of a win they should have had. If the wrongly disallowed goals were reviewable and overturned then it wouldn’t be an issue.

I only see this benefitting soccer. It adds even more integrity to the game as now teams cannot win on a technicality or a mistake from an official. It makes the game much more fair. Not to mention no longer has to make embarrassing apologies for poor officiating. I don’t see a downside to this either. They could use the same technology that ESPN has on every play involving offsides, which clearly shows the correct call. FIFA has already embraced this integration of technology with the new goal line technology. It only seems like the next logical step.

Those are my thoughts on it. Let me know what you think.

For anyone that read my predictions on the World Cup, you would be correct in saying that I was confident in my pick of Spain as the winner of Group B. I mean, come on, they are the reigning champions and still the number one team in the world. Apparently, that meant absolutely nothing to Robin Van Persie and company as they dispatched Spain to the tune of a 5-1 final score.

I realize the error I made when analyzing the pool before the tournament began. The Netherlands was playing with a chip on their shoulder. They were clearly the underdogs and they had been beat by this exact team four years prior to today in a battle for world soccer supremacy. Spain also had to fight off the feeling of being complacent and the feeling that they were going to win simply because they were thought to be the best. Holland demonstrated, really for the entirety of this match, their burning desire to get revenge. They were first to every loose ball; they were more aggressive in their defending; they were more confident in their strikes on goal, converting five of them. They were simply the better team on the field rather than on paper.

The first take away from the match today has to be how poorly Spain played. They looked lackluster on offense and lazy on defense. Iker Casillas, who I lauded as being a special player for Spain, looked downright out of sync. He hasn’t been getting much time with the first team at Madrid and he certainly looked out of practice today. Casillas single-handedly gave away two goals today; one when he misplayed a cross from a free kick and one where he essentially pass Van Persie the ball in front of the net. I think Casillas will improve from here as he gets into a better rhythm but that has to be concerning for Spain’s supporters. We also witnessed the continued fall of Fernando Torres as he failed to beat a defender one on one to score a goal on an empty net. I don’t think I need to say more than that.

Now, even though Spain had a terrible performance, that should not take away from what the Dutch did today. They played fast and incredibly tactical offense and they played smothering defense. Van Persie and Arjen Robben showed signs of being one of the most dynamic duos on the international stage accounting for four different goals in the match. The fact that Spain’s only goal came from a penalty should indicate dominant the defense played throughout the whole game.

Now here is the fun part: projecting what happens next. I think this puts the Netherlands in the position to sweep the pool and take first. That would mean they would match up with the runner up from Group A, a much easier game than having to likely play Brazil at home. They could make a bit of a stretch run and I think they will wind up in the semi finals.

As for Spain, I still think they move on taking second in the pool. That would likely mean that we would get a matchup of two underachieving teams, Spain and Brazil. It really could be anyone’s game and one of these two tournament favorites could be heading home very early.

The last thing I have to say is how much I enjoyed watching the Spain-Holland game. It was so energetic and fast-paced. It was very entertaining soccer. I simply cannot remember enjoying watching soccer as much as I did today. This might have been one of the best I will ever see. As always, I am open to comments. Thanks for reading.