Player of the day
Carlos Tevez, Argentina
Can Tevez be blamed for claiming the first goal in the Albiceleste’s 3-1 win over Mexico? Of course not. Can the referees be blamed for letting it stand when he clearly was offside? Absolutely — it was Sunday’s theme in South Africa. But Tevez also put the match out of reach with his howitzer blast six minutes into the second half. There may be few players in the world who enjoy scoring as much as Tevez — who took as much pleasure in the goal as Diego Maradona did watching it.
(Disallowed) Goal of the day
Frank Lampard, England
It really doesn’t matter whether it was long overdue payback for Geoff Hurst’s disputed goal in England’s 4-2 World Cup final win over Germany in 1966. Lampard’s looping strike — which hit off the underside of the crossbar and bounced well over the goal line before Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer retrieved it — would’ve been a game-tying strike for the English. Instead, it may go down as the most egregious screwup among all the botched calls by FIFA referees in South Africa.
