Beach-ball goal deflates opponent in England

Oct 17, 6:18 pm EDT

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SUNDERLAND, England (AP)—Maybe a lifeguard should have run on the field and declared no goal.

A beach ball from the stands floated on the field in the opening minutes of Saturday’s Sunderland-Liverpool game in the Premier League. It might as well have been a set piece for Sunderland.

Sunderland’s Darren Bent took a shot that Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina appeared to have covered. But Bent’s ball hit a large red beach ball, deflecting past Reina and into the net.

The goal, coming in the fifth minute at the Stadium of Light, stood. No referee—or lifeguard—waved it off.

It was the game’s only goal, and the 1-0 loss put Liverpool further out of title contention. Making matters worse for Liverpool was that the beach ball had been thrown onto the field by one of its fans.

“We didn’t play well but we had bad luck,” said Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, whose team lost for the fourth time this season to slip to eighth place.

Benitez said he didn’t see the beach-ball deflection.

“I was surprised because the linesman was there and afterwards they were explaining to me,” he said. “But you cannot change things.”

Updated Oct 17, 6:18 pm EDT
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1161 Comments

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  1. shashank k
    1161. Posted by shashank k Sat Oct 31 8:50pm EDT

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    wow
    thats messed up
  2. daniel
    1160. Posted by daniel Fri Oct 23 8:32pm EDT

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    i read that the beachball was named man of the match by steve bruce and man city wanted to buy it for £20 million in the next transfer window lol
  3. <i>tigersfan125</i>
    1159. Posted by tigersfan125 Fri Oct 23 7:31pm EDT

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    lawn fairies
  4. Not tellin you
    1158. Posted by Not tellin you Fri Oct 23 6:23pm EDT

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    1156, you are a tool. The Sherriff is doing his job, including securing our borders. As to the whole "only doing jobs gringos don't want to do" that line of logic is a load of crap. By that line of thinking, if someone broke into your house, it would be okay if they did the dishes while they were there.
  5. Rick U
    1157. Posted by Rick U Fri Oct 23 5:08pm EDT

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    Maybe it is popular because you do not need to be very smart to enjoy it. The world has no shortage of dumb people (see post from Ao O below). Anyone who does not know the difference between accept and except would gladly stand for three hours and pee on himself hoping for a possible riot.
  6. Mavrick
    1156. Posted by Mavrick Thu Oct 22 3:00pm EDT

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    1156, you're the racist.
  7. Jamal
    1155. Posted by Jamal Wed Oct 21 10:02am EDT

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    hi how areyoujouken
  8. Ao O
    1154. Posted by Ao O Mon Oct 19 6:23pm EDT

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    All u haters like Carl B i got a news flash 4 yo, deal wit the fact that football( I mean the real football not sum shet u use wit ur hands) is the greatest sports in the world dont try to compare that nfl, hockey, and baseball shet to football  cuz its life and passion 4 lots ppland alot of Americans are in denial cuz they don't want to except that football is the most popular in the worldgo to the jungles of Africa or to the desert of middle east or to the tundra of the north or to the Forrest of Asia and u know how south America feels about it already, doesn't matter where it is ppl love football... And truth be told American football was copped from Australian Rule Football which In return came from the real football in England. Don't cry about it Carl B haha, u dont wanna get ur  broken  ...to all my football lovers this is 4  and to yo nfl lovers and baseball lovrs keep using  haha
  9. jukeN
    1153. Posted by jukeN Mon Oct 19 5:46pm EDT

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    No need to get excited about the popularity of the NFL and real football. Both sports cater to their respective supporters. However, may I be so obnoxious and add that in the 1970s Kyle Rote Jr., a professional footballer in the NASL and son of NFL star and NY Giants Kyle Rote, competed with many NFL and other top sports athletes in a 'quasi-decatholon'. To my recollection this event lasted for 3 years and Rote Jr. won 3X in a row beating out the best in the NFL. Let the record speak for itself about athleticism.
  10. Anthony L
    1152. Posted by Anthony L Mon Oct 19 5:38pm EDT

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    This ref is dumb. He should be fired.
  11. roundnaldo
    1151. Posted by roundnaldo Mon Oct 19 4:14pm EDT

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    Football, or what american tools call "soccer" has always been the most global and popular sport, one that can be enjoyed internationally; FIFA competitions have drawn the highest numbers of viewers and interest of any sporting event, including the Olympics. Case in point: the MLB "World Series" contains about 1% of the world's countries participating, while the "World Cup" contains 32 countries, filtered from 200+ competitors.

    American sports have their time and place, but to dismiss "soccer" is just another case of the USA public following the footsteps of their foreign policy in shutting out the rest of the world.
  12. <i>juniortshulu@...</i>
    1150. Posted by juniortshulu@... Mon Oct 19 9:43am EDT

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    Gunners deserve this season bwoii ---xebe
  13. Jojo
    1149. Posted by Jojo Mon Oct 19 9:27am EDT

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    Overall - not the beach ball goal making LIVERPOOL lossing to Sunderland, it all because of their poor performances this season.......wake up Liverpool.......what happen to you this season??????????
  14. wgh
    1148. Posted by wgh Mon Oct 19 7:31am EDT

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    You can watch the video here www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfYovomLdcM :]
  15. Kim S
    1147. Posted by Kim S Mon Oct 19 6:35am EDT

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    ""and Kim S, who's leading the league? Eh? What's Liverpool's current standing in the Premier atm?

    *smirk* ""

    Well a few days ago it was Chelsea.

    Doesn't matter who's leading the league NOW. It's who is leading the league in May.

    This time last year Liverpool was leading. Did they win it Nope.

    FIVE EUROPEAN CUPS, sonny.

    How many Man Utd got?
  16. Carl B
    1146. Posted by Carl B Mon Oct 19 1:35am EDT

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    And to Andrew, if I wanted to watch people run around a field for 90 minutes, I would watch my children run around playing soccer, they score more than the professionals... when all that really means is a lack of defense, my point is it doesn't amuse me to see a scoreless game, or even a few score game, it's spread too far
  17. Carl B
    1145. Posted by Carl B Mon Oct 19 1:32am EDT

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    and by one soccer game i mean only one soccer game as opposed to however many are played here now... my general response was to those who said football isn't even popular in other countries where as when it had been in london or even Tokyo, i believe the response was rather large... nothing against soccer other than i don't like to watch a game that could leave me disappointed in the rules, that can end in a tie... There should be some kind of shootout or something for those who can't manage to score for 90 minutes.... hints the L.A. vs. Houston game today.... lame ending... i want to see a victor...
  18. Carl B
    1144. Posted by Carl B Mon Oct 19 1:26am EDT

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    COPAmundial It sold out that fast because that many people were dying to see it... if there was one soccer game in america... It still wouldn't sell out, exclusive or not, sell out crowds are not ever really uncommon in the nfl... Infact it happens every weekend... how many soccer games sell out... every game
  19. Unicorn
    1143. Posted by Unicorn Mon Oct 19 1:26am EDT

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    We see a bunch of guys who luv soccer ball, another bunch of guys would luv American Futball, others may luv rugby ball, golf ball, tennis ball, ping pong balls....or another kind of damn balls. Well, stop argue so much, just luv the type of ball u prefer, & peace to the world. I myself luv that BEACH BAll.
  20. <i>jwd1157</i>
    1142. Posted by jwd1157 Mon Oct 19 1:21am EDT

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    It happened in the first five minutes so maybe the refs figured Lvrpl had 85 more minutes to score two goals.
    Anyway, it should have been disallowed and do a drop ball.
  21. Andrew
    1141. Posted by Andrew Sun Oct 18 11:57pm EDT

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    Soccer is THE MOST ACTION FILLED GAME IN THE WORLD! Players run around for 90+ minutes each match, and they are incredibly trained. The game never stops unless for injury and goals/substitutions. Meanwhile, the NFL takes a 30 second interval between plays, and goes to a commercial break every five minutes. And the NFL players play only half the game, and sit on the bench and watch the rest of the game, which is 60 minutes long.

    As an American, I wish we have transitioned to the metric system years ago, and we should spell our words more like the English. And us Americans are reluctant to change from foreign areas in our country, and we should accept globalization in our country in the term of sport soon or we will be behind everyone in many athletic competitions.
  22. skinzanddodgers
    1140. Posted by skinzanddodgers Sun Oct 18 11:18pm EDT

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    One thing you forgot to mention, average nfl salary is brought down because of one thing only: kickers who are all white, especially the punters. don't worry europeans, theres a job market available for kickers in the nfl for minimum wage.
  23. StephenS
    1139. Posted by StephenS Sun Oct 18 10:54pm EDT

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    Just saw the replay. That is interference by an outside agent and under Laws 3 & 5, the referee must stop play when the ball strikes the object. No goal is scored and the restart is a Dropped Ball at the point where the interference occurrs. That looked like it took place inside the goal area, so the dropped ball would take place on the goal area line closest to where the interference occurred
  24. COPAmundial
    1138. Posted by COPAmundial Sun Oct 18 8:22pm EDT

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    Carl B, The American Footbal game sold out that fast because it is one game...exclusivity. Think for a second dumb @ss. If the NFL tried playing in europe....wait...they tried that...it failed. LOL!!!!!!!!!!
  25. Carl B
    1137. Posted by Carl B Sun Oct 18 7:16pm EDT

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    If american football is so bad compared to soccer, and soccer is just oh so much more popular globally, how many minutes does it take to sell out any soccer game?? do they sell out??? The last time (2008) a football game was played in London, it sold out in 6 MINUTES. Seriously, when can soccer do that??
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