Speculation continues to run rampant following the World Cup draw between the United States and Slovenia, as millions of fans ponder the actions of referee Koman Coulibaly.
In a game loaded with questionable calls and non-calls, none looms larger than Maurice Edu's disallowed goal in the 85th minute.
The lack of a clear explanation seems to be the driving force behind much of the uproar.
On the ESPN broadcast, the graphics team flashed "Offside" as the goal was disallowed. However Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl writes that FIFA's official ruling is a foul on Edu himself.
There's only one problem with that: the video shows Edu as the player involved in the least amount of contact on the play.
Maybe it's hard to find a good explanation because there is no explanation. We could comb through the footage like the Zapruder film and still not find anything.
Blogging for NYTimes.com, Jeff Z. Klein writes:
If the whole thing was a makeup call for the borderline flop by Jozy Altidore that set up the free-kick, it's almost worse than a blown call. A blown call is frustrating and maddening, but it's still an innocent mistake. A makeup call is much less innocent.
Awarding a free-kick and waving off a goal are wildly different decisions in terms of magnitude. This was not tit-for-tat.
Nevertheless, for those fans looking for answers, but not quite willing to go as far as Eric Wynalda's match-fixing accusation, the makeup call may be the best explanation you're going to get.