The "Icing The Kicker" Menace Has Spread To MLS

On Sunday, the Red Bulls found a new way to lose a game. (I don’t know if MLS keeps that record, but New York surely owns it.) In the 90th minute of a 1-1 match at San Jose, Red Bulls defender Roy Miller was whistled for a handball, and 2012 leading scorer Chris Wondolowski lined up for a penalty kick. Miller, who continues to mystify RBNY fans by having a job, managed to ruin that too.

Just so non-soccer fans know, this isn’t a strategy like it can be in football (where it is a failed strategy). Why?

But this is the crucial point: had Wondolowski scored on the first attempt, the referee would have counted it and waved off the encroachment. Miller’s brilliant plan could not possibly have worked, and ultimately resulted in RBNY forfeiting a point.