[antonye]

What I want to know is why the ref allowed play to continue after the ball had been picked out of the back of the net?

Surely if it was a foul, as the ref claims, then he would have blown his whistle and awarded the free kick, not allowed play to continue *after* a player had handled the ball?

There's no excuse for it - the ball had gone out of play as it crossed the goal line and you simply cannot play on after such an event.

The ref was absolutely shocking and gave some terrible decisions. Contrast the stop-start nature of this game with the way Collina lets his games flow and you've got the two ends of the spectrum.

I'm not the best authority on football either, but I have played at club level (come on you yellows!) and know the difference between a good and bad ref!