8 incidents that would have never happened had video technology existed

“Techmology is it good or is it w***k?” Asked Ali G to some of his prank victims in Da Ali G show. Obviously, he was doing what he did best: Con important personalities and troll them to the point that they are befuddled or angered beyond their boiling point.But seriously, how important is technology in football?While this is a debate that will rage on until Justin Bieber decides to write sensible lyrics, which is never, what can’t be argued is the fact that some of the most atrocious and controversial decisions might never have taken place if technology was put in place, perhaps changing the results of the game.Here are eight such incidents that could have been avoided had technology prevailed:

#8 Cristiano Ronaldo vs Spain

It might have been only a friendly encounter, but it saw one of the finest moves come from Cristiano Ronaldo go wasted. In a match that saw Portugal destroy the then world champions, there was one dark spot that perhaps still hurts Ronaldo.

The Real Madrid attacker blazed past Gerard Pique and then faked a movement to put the Catalan to sleep then and there. He then showed his incredible awareness when he chipped it from a tight angle as Iker Casillas was some way off his line. The ball went over the head of both Carles Puyol and the Spain captain, it was going to be his best goal for Portugal.

But then Nani happened.

The onrushing winger showed his lack of intelligence when he tried to head in a ball that was already going in, putting the linesman in a spot of bother and ultimately getting the goal chalked off for offside. Replays later showed that the ball had crossed the line even before Nani headed it—who also wasn’t offside to start with.

#7 Spain vs South Korea

Spanish team — A dejected bunch of Spanish players after the game.

After watching this game, I lost a lot of faith in the ability of humans to make the right decisions—and I was only 9-years-old back then. As Spain took on South Korea in a quest to reach the semifinal of the 2002 World Cup, they thought that the only thing standing in between them and their destination were the hosts, but how little they knew that the referee was going to be the biggest hurdle.

At first, a Spain free-kick hit Korea’s Kim Tae-Young on the back of the head before bouncing into the net. The referee perhaps thought goals like that are illegal in the game and hence disallowed it despite being a perfectly legit goal.

Then, three minutes into the extra time, Joaquin put in a perfect cross for Fernando Morientes to head in on what should have been a golden goal, but the linesman thought the ball had already crossed the line before Joaquin could cross it.

In the end, South Korea won the game on penalties, reducing the legendary Fernando Hierro to tears in an encounter that could have been so much different if technology was prevalent.

#6 Pepe vs Barcelona

“The thigh was high,” go Barca fans as they read the heading of the slide. But let’s face it: the leg might have been high, however, it never touched Dani Alves.

Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid lost their first Clasico 5-0 at the Camp Nou. Mourinho knew then that the only way to counter Barca with all their awesomeness and theatrics was to be very, very physical. And that’s what happened.

As Real Madrid went all ‘thug life’ on Barcelona, they resorted to what they are masters at, theatrics. So when Pepe’s leg was a little too high but missed Dani Alves’ calf by a whisker, the Brazilian saw this as an opportunity to get Pepe into trouble.

It seemed as though the wind force from Pepe’s lunge tore Alves’ thigh muscles to shreds as he went down and out of the ground on a stretcher, only to run back in after the Portuguese was sent off for this.

#5 Luis Garcia vs Chelsea

One of the things about Jose Mourinho is that the man never forgets any controversial decision that doesn’t go in his favour. Even after 10 years, if you asked him about that goal from Luis Garcia in the semifinal against Chelsea, you would be able to feel the heat coming out of his mouth.

Whether the goal was legit or not, we cannot say for sure. But what we can say with assurance is that had technology been used back then, we would have known exactly what happened and there wouldn’t have been so much bitterness that has been caused due to this incident.

Though, one could say it was a justified decision as William Gallas’ handball inside the box in the first-leg was never whistled at.

#4 Sergio Busquets vs Inter Milan

Who can ever forget this incident? This is the moment which shot Sergio Busquets to stardom, something that nearly made him win the Oscars that year. It is a shame that it took this for the Spaniard to fall into the limelight and not for his outstanding abilities as a footballer.

There isn’t another player as intelligent as him in the Blaugrana team as his positional sense and ability to spray possession is what keeps Barca ticking. But when he couldn’t do that, he did something smarter in an attempt to bail Barca out of trouble.

As Thiago Motta’s hand brushed against the fragile face of Sergio Busquets, he went down to the ground as if he had been shot with a bazooka. His hands covered his face while also peeking between them to see whether Motta had been sent off. The referee fell for it and showed the Italian a red card.

It didn’t work, though, as Inter managed to get past Barcelona and eventually win the tournament. However, they had to do it with a lot more difficulty than what would have been needed had technology been in place.

#3 Pedro Mendes vs Manchester United

The game was between Tottenham and Manchester United and the score was stuck 0-0 with just some minutes to go. At this point, the players were just plainly bored and it seemed like they just wanted to finish the game as it was. The ball was moving to and fro like it happens in pinball, but then Spurs’ Pedro Mendes thought that he had had enough and shot the ball from the halfway line.

It seemed like a lame attempt, a waste of possession, as the ball was travelling straight into the hands of ‘keeper Roy Carroll. But he made a mess of it.

The ball jumped straight back towards the goal from his hands and actually went in before Carroll could push it away. Thankfully for him, he was saved from the embarrassment as the linesman failed to spot it and the goal wasn’t counted.

#2 Frank Lampard vs Germany

England were trailing 2-1 to a Germany side that were superior to them in every department. The Germans were just rampant and were heading towards an easy win but there was drama before that could happen.

Frank Lampard shot one of his famous outside-the-box belters and it hit the underside of the crossbar, dropped a good two yards inside the line only to bounce right back to the crossbar and then into the hands of Manuel Neuer.

It was as clear a goal as Rebecca Black’s auto-tuned voice, but the linesman failed to see it. Hence, the goal didn’t count and Germany scored two more goals to finish the game 4-1. With goalline technology, such goof-ups would cease to happen, but England fans might still be wondering what could have been had technology been used back then.

#1 Tom Henning Ovrebos decisions during Chelsea vs Barcelona

The image of this game was Didier Drogba shouting “a f***ing disgrace” at the camera as the Barcelona players celebrated wildly. It was the semifinal of the Champions League in 2009 and Barcelona had just qualified for the final after drawing the game 1-1, thanks to some horrendous refereeing from Tom Henning Ovrebo.

According to the referee himself, his dismal decisions costs Chelsea a place in the final as there were quite a few moments where the Blues could have won a penalty.

The first one was when Florent Malouda was shoved down inside the box by Dani Alves, but the referee didn’t think it was a penalty. In the second half, a blatant handball by Gerard Pique inside the box was waved away and, finally, in the stoppage time, another handball, this time by Samuel Eto’o who was right in front of the referee, was neglected by the Norwegian referee.

Had video technology been there at that time, Chelsea would have had at least two penalties in their favour and the outcome of the match would have been quite different. One can almost understand why Ovrebo still gets death threats till this very day.