The goalkeepers had stopped penalty kicks a minute apart, the referee had nullified an apparent penalty kick goal and Pedro’s seemingly sure effort had tagged the left post. Perhaps nothing was going to enter the net Saturday at Ellis Park.
But on another evening of spellbinding theater at the World Cup, Spain’s David Villa scored the breakthrough goal on an 83rd-minute shot that struck the right post, dribbled along the goal line and kissed the base of the left upright before crossing the barrier.
Villa was offside at the time of the pass to the guy who shot the ball that rebounded off the post to Villa. No commentators picked this up and, if I recall the rules rightly, the goal should have been disallowed.