Don't worry, gnu, you're not the only one who's confused. Here is the first paragraph of Law 10, The Method of Scoring: "A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar, provided that no infringement of the Laws of the Game has been committed previously by the team scoring the goal." If you imagine a vertical plane extending upward from the outside edge of the goal line, a goal is only scored when every bit of the ball has crossed that plane. In the case of the US shot against Germany, only part of the ball entered the goal; therefore, no goal.

And as far as the "hand ball" call, Blues is again right: Law 12 says that a player will be penalized by a direct free kick (or penalty kick, if it's within the penalty area) if he "handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within the penalty area)". If you watch the replay, you'll see that the German player actually moved his arm back after the ball struck him. I suspect this was intentional, to let the referee see that he was not deliberately playing the ball. But you're right, gnu, you have seen referees in this World Cup award a foul when the ball merely ricocheted off a player's arm. In my humble opinion, those were incorrect calls. It doesn't help matters when the announcers are not very clear on what the laws are, and give confusing messages to the viewers.

It would also be nice if they would use correct terminology. "Sideline", "end line", "6-yard box", "18-yard box" -- Jack Edwards, or whatever his name is on ESPN, has been driving me batty. Or have these terms somehow become part of the vocabulary of non-American commentators as well? Am I being unnecessarily pedantic here? (I actually did hear him say "penalty area" once in the US-Germany game, and almost fell out of my chair.)

I think a Turkey-Korea final would certainly raise a few European and South American eyebrows, and definitely make this the Surprise Cup! I'm afraid, though, that those calling for Brazil over Germany in the final are probably right. But Den....3 goals???

Aloha,
Mark