Courtesy: FIFA.com


Spain's late goal v. Italy

Friday 17 October 2008

The third Spanish goal in match 54, the semi-final Spain-Italy (3-2 a.e.t) in Rio de Janeiro on 16 October 2008, caused a lot of discussion. The own-goal scored by Italy's No10, Adriano Foglia, occurred in the very last second of the second half of extra-time. Referee Antonio Alvarez (Cuba) indicated immediately that the goal in favour of the Spanish team was valid. Meanwhile, the Italian team claimed that the ball crossed the goal-line after the clock had signalled 0.0 seconds.

Due to the chaotic scenes on and off court, and for security reasons, it was decided that the referee, the second referee, the third referee and the timekeeper should go back to their dressing room before restarting the match.

Timekeeper Asselam Khan (Mozambique) had stopped the clock after the third Spanish goal. The horn sounds automatically when playing time is over, with no direct intervention from the timekeeper. The fact that the horn did not sound proves that the match was not over when the goal was scored.

Once order had been restored, and after the match was restarted, the automatic horn could be heard by all present at the Maracanazinho hall.





Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com