Sunday's blown goal call in the Germany and England match needs to be a clarion call from this day forth: The World Cup must have instant replay for all goals or potential goals. In case you missed it, you can watch the goal scored by England's Frank Lampard by clicking here. England went on to lose the match 4-1, but Lampard's goal should have tied the game at 2. Anyone who watched this game, you and I included, immediately realized what a bungled call this was.

After the missed call the British would yield two more goals and march back into the ignominy of another failed World Cup. FIFA officials, who have dealt with blown goal calls the entire tournament, refused to comment upon the latest colossal blunder. Instead FIFA arrogantly relied upon the old tried and true statements once trotted out as weak excuses for why there would be no instant replay in American sports leagues. Namely, that instant replay would represent a slippery slope that would lead to too much review, would be difficult to implement, and make the game worse.

That argument is completely wrong. FIFA must have instant replay for the World Cup.

Now. I know we in America always get charged with cultural imperialism anytime we make suggestions about how to improve the game of soccer. But the obstacles offered to instant replay in the NFL, the NHL, and Major League Baseball, and college football are all the exact same obstacles being offered by FIFA officials today. The point is, as all of our pro leagues have illustrated by implementing instant replay, these objections don't really make sense.

FIFA's position is, essentially, that player and referee errors are a part of the game. That's true, but it's also idiotic. If you can eliminate some referee errors then you magnify the importance of the on-field performance of the players. Which, in the end, is the goal of all sports, right? Allowing the players to determine the outcome.

Just imagine what would have happened if England and Germany had been playing in the World Cup Final and England had lost after a missed goal like this.

Would the World Cup ever recover in this modern YouTube sports era?

I don't think so.

That's because HD television has fundamentally altered the game of soccer just like it has altered every other sport. Fans sitting at home can make instantaneous decisions about the legitimacy of soccer calls. When the World Cup began there was no television, no microphones on the referees that allowed them to communicate with one another, and no Internet community that magnifies every error to the point where those errors overwhelm the majesty of the matches themselves. In 1930, when the World Cup began, only those in attendance could know if a call was missed.

Now, in a moment's notice, billions can post the errant video on Facebook, Twitter, or a blog.

A failure to allow instant replay isn't a protection of soccer's past, it's a bastardization of soccer's future.

And it isn't really that complicated.

In fact, I'll break down how it should work in five steps.

1. Immediately take all non-goal related decisions off the table for review in the midst of games.

That means the referees would maintain complete discretion to call fouls on the field and to issue penalty cards as they see fit on any plays that do not lead to goals. Examining, for instance, who the ball went off and whether a goal kick or a corner kick should be rewarded would remain entirely at the discretion of the referees.

Errors in these details, while unfortunate, would remain a part of the game. This would not be a system that would micromanage officiating.

Indeed, it would eliminate the need for replay in all but the most important of moments, that is when goals are scored. For 99% of soccer play there would be no stoppage for review.

2. Review every goal in real time.

The technology exists to make the entire goal light up as a ball crosses the line just as the goal lights up in the NHL when a puck enters the net. With chips in the soccer ball, the referee could see the goal light up the moment the ball passed the line and instant replay officials would immediately begin reviewing the footage even as the celebration continued.

For most goals, mere seconds would be all that was necessary.

Determining a goal in the NHL is much more difficult than determining a goal in soccer, yet the NHL manages to implement its system just about flawlessly.

Using instant replay would have taken about ten seconds for England to be awarded the goal against Germany.

In my opinion, offside calls that negate goals should also be included in this review.

Why?

Because with HD television all of us can see the shading mechanism on the field that demonstrates whether a player was on or offside before a goal was scored. Using this format wouldn't have kept the United States third goal against Slovenia on the board -- which was waved off via a discretionary penalty call -- but it would have allowed Clint Dempsey's first half goal against Algeria.

Again, the trigger for instant replay review only occurs when the ball enters the net.

At no other time would bit be involved.

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