Refreshing Sportsmanship

Miroslav Klose, Napoli Forward

        Last week, there was a soccer match between Napoli and Lazio Roma. Miroslav Klose, a Napoli forward, apparently scored a goal off of a corner kick. However, he knew he didn't do it legally. In soccer, one of the most basic rules is the fact that all players except for the designated goalkeeper cannot use their hands. After the corner kick came sailing towards Klose near the goal, he reached up with his hand and re-deflected the ball into the back of the net. In real time,  the ball seemed to cross the goal line legally, but instant replay showed otherwise. Lazio Roma, the team that was scored on, knew immediately that a hand ball was the reason for the goal. As mentioned earlier, so did Miroslav Klose. What was the most refreshing part of the situation, was that Klose admitted to his illegal goal; he told the referee and the goal was promptly discredited. The video of the goal (although unfortunately in a language other than English) is included below. Klose and Napoli are wearing black, while Lazio are in blue.

      The reaction to Klose's admission of his handball goal has been overwhelmingly positive. Taking into account however that this took place in Europe. 

       I believe that if this same situation was to arise in a popular event within the United States, the player in Klose's position would be lambasted as a flake of a player who doesn't care about winning. Although it's extremely unfortunate, I truly think that Americans, and sometimes myself included, care about the game over fairness and the rules that make games what they are.

       One example of such, was a situation that arose during a football game between the Packers and Seahawks. Seahawks wide receiver, Golden Tate, committed an infraction of shoving another player en route to catching the game winning touchdown pass from Russell Wilson. With no time remaining at the time of the catch, had the penalty of shoving another player been called, the game would have been over. Golden Tate did admit to the fact that he shoved the other player, in this article.  

One major problem: it was after the game was over and his team had already won. 

In conclusion, I truly think the difference is the mindset of Americans versus that of Europeans. Americans are all for the slyness of the game and short term prosperity, whereas that of Europeans, as shown by Miroslav Klose, is all for the fairness and enjoyment of the game.