# Beginning of the Hernandez-Romero incident **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-soccer-fifa\ **Created:** [April 5, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170 "2023-04-05T02:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170/1 "2023-04-05T02:19:16Z")
OK so the referee Hernandez kneed the player Romero in the crotch during an argument about a controversial American goal. I’ve watch the goal with Spanish commentary, but cannot understand what the controversy about the goal itself was. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170/2 "2023-04-05T04:54:33Z")
This video seems to capture the whole incident. There were claims of handball on the corner into the box. Probably correct, too, but I haven’t seen a good replay of that. > ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170/3 "2023-04-08T01:39:21Z")
Now that you mention it I can see the Mexican players tapping their arms so yes they seem to be sayi8ng a hand ball which the video doesn’t show as if it happens we only see the player’s back. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170/4 "2023-04-08T03:02:51Z")
The outcome of the kneeing looks like a classic flop. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170/5 "2023-04-08T12:59:05Z")
I don’t have any comment on that particular play, but do want to note that both teams are Mexican teams. The team in question is Club América from Mexico City, not a team from the United States. > **[Club América](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Am%C3%A9rica)** > > Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed Las Águilas (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football. The club was founded in 1916, and since 1959 has been owned by media company Televisa. The team plays its home games at the Estadio Azteca, the largest stadium in Latin America and one of the largest in the world. > América is one of the founding members of the Pri... ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170/6 "2023-04-08T17:15:06Z")
And just to confuse things further, there was a “Team America” that played in NASL for one year, in an effort to boost the U.S. men’s national soccer team: > **[Team America (NASL)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_America_(NASL))** > > Team America was a professional version of the United States men's national soccer team which played as a franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1983 season. The team was based in Washington, D.C., played its home games at RFK Stadium, and was intended by the NASL and the United States Soccer Federation to build fan support for the league and create a cohesive and internationally competitive national team. However, the team finished in last place and drew only 13,000 This was two decades before the Trey Parker/Matt Stone feature _Team America: World Police_. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beginning-of-the-hernandez-romero-incident/982170/7 "2023-04-08T21:22:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The outcome of the kneeing looks like a classic flop. I’m quite sure the victim still can continue his family planning, but a kneeing to the groin by a ref is still a very shitty thing, and I could understand that he went down by sheer reflex and surprise. And don’t forget that the balls are very sensitive for pain. ETA: I’ve watched the whole sequence, and even without the kneeing the referee handled the situation horribly.