Former England striker Geoff Hurst on Monday backed the introduction of goal-line technology in the Premier League — and said it would have prevented controversy in the 1966 World Cup final.
Hurst, now 71, scored a hat-trick in the final that England won 4-2 against West Germany at Wembley but his second, awarded after bouncing down off the crossbar, has been the source of nearly 50 years of debate about whether it crossed the line.
Goal-line technology was used for the first time in Sunday’s Charity Shield match that Premier League champions Manchester United won 2-0 against FA Cup holders Wigan and is set to be rolled out when the league starts this weekend. “If we had this system 50 years ago, it would have shown quite clearly the ball (in the 1966 World Cup final) was at least a foot over the line,” said Hurst.
“Germany have been arguing the toss ever since but I will never tire of talking about it. They can’t take it away now anyway. It is in the book.
“But I certainly welcome the move.” Hurst said the move was inevitable because of the high financial stakes in the modern game.
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Schalke held in six-goal thriller
Berlin, Aug. 12: Schalke 04 and Hamburg shared the points in a 3-3 thriller on Sunday as new signings grabbed the limelight on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga season.
Schalke’s new-signing Adam Szalai scored the Royal Blues’ crucial third goal to share the points with Hamburg. Schalke took the lead at home to Hamburg when Holland striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar struck after just 84 seconds before compatriot Rafael van der Vaart netted a 12th-minute penalty to level.
Striker Maximilian Beister produced a bullet header on 24 minutes to put Hamburg in front before Huntelaar levelled right at the end of the first half.
Ex-Dortmund defender Lasse Sobiech then headed the hosts ahead just after half-time before Hungary’s Szalai, who joined Schalke from Mainz in the summer, pounced on a mistake by Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler on 72 minutes for a share of the points. — afp