Northern Ireland's World Cup hopes were all but dashed Thursday as the hosts lost 1-0 to Switzerland in the first leg of their World Cup playoff. The goal came via a Ricardo Rodriguez penalty in the 56th minute. Ricardo Rodriguez should not have scored that goal because a penalty should not have been called. Take a look for yourself:
Taylor Twellman is adamant that this is a penalty and you know what, reader? Taylor Twellman is wrong.
So wrong. There is nothing in The Laws of the Game about your back being turned having anything to do with a handling violation. It's just stupid. The ball hit Corry on the shoulder before Corry had any time to react, and his arm was in a natural position. Not. A. Penalty.
Well, Northern Ireland head into the away leg down 1-0, which means they will need to win and score at least two goals to advance outright. It is probably not going to happen.
Switzerland, though. Switzerland will be looking to add their name to this list very soon.
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