The referee who failed to award England a goal during Sunday's World Cup clash with Germany exclaimed 'Oh my God!' when he realised that Frank Lampard's shot had bounced a yard over the line.
Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda, 42, saw a replay of the incident at half-time, though the blame appeared to lie more with his linesman and compatriot Mauricio Espinosa. Both accepted they had erred in off-the-record conversations with Uruguayan journalists with Larrionda described as "being destroyed" by the error. Fabio Capello, the England manager, argued that awarding the goal would have levelled the scores at 2-2 and fundamentally altered the course of the match.
Larrionda is no stranger to controversy at the World Cup. Just last week he was berated by Serbian players for failing to award a penalty for handball against Tim Cahill in the final minutes of their match against Australia. A goal then would have sent Serbia through.
At the 2006 World Cup Larrionda handed out three red cards in the game between the United States and Italy - two of them to the Americans, who were highly critical of his decisions. However, FIFA appeared happy with his performance as he was selected to take charge of the semi-final between France and Portugal.
Larrionda furthered angered the United States when he sent off Michael Bradley in last year's Confederations Cup semi-final against Spain, causing him to miss the final, which the Americans lost 3-2 to Brazil.
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But perhaps the most intriguing incident involving the official came during a World Cup qualifying match between Brazil and Colombia in 2004, when Larrionda waved play on after a shot by Brazilian striker Adriano bounced down off the crossbar. TV replays showed it was a yard over the line - tonight England will know the feeling.