Referee kills Champions League final
Tonight’s Champions’ League final should have been a celebration of football. The first fifteen minutes promised a lot, with Henry wasting an easy chance to put Arsenal ahead. But then the 18th minute came the incident that marred the match: rather than playing advantage, Norwegian referee Terje Hauge sent off Lehmann and disallowed Barcelona’s goal that should have stood.
While people may argue that playing against 10 is an advantage, it’s only a potential advantage: football is decided on goals scored, and not on the number of players left on the pitch for each team at the end of the match. However more than the injustice, the excitement and anticipation that preceded the final drained out of the game right then. Arsenal, who had been superior until then, were forced to withdraw Robert Pires, playing his final game as a Gunner, to bring on Manuel Almunia. The game then descended into a predictable pattern of Barcelona enjoying the lion’s share of possession and Arsenal sitting back in defence.
Yet Hauge compounded his mistake a few minutes later. He missed Eboué’s blatant dive and instead gave a free kick against Puyol from which Henry crossed for Campbell to open the scoring. While justice was finally done with Barca’s two late goals, fans will no doubt be frustrated that Hauge’s incompetence destroyed what could have been a classic final between two teams loaded with attacking flair. Rather than replacing linesman Hermann Borgan who was photographed wearing a Barca shirt prior to the game, they would have been better off relieving Hauge of his duties.
