Manchester City's Wilfried Bony, bottom is brought down by West Bromwich Albion's Craig Dawson during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England, Saturday March 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Whether they liked soccer or not, my parents watched hundreds, perhaps thousands of soccer games watching my twin brother and I play from a young age through high school.

One thing my dad always liked to point out, particularly after a contentious match, was the number of officials on the field in soccer.

My dad, a football referee for many years, couldn’t understand why soccer only has one ref with two assistants while football has no fewer than five (more in college and NFL).

How on earth, he would wonder, could one man watch 22 players at once, with no more than a flag from assistants that, at the youth level, were often ignored by the head referee?

It’s an issue that is still going today, perhaps most visibly in Europe and England in particular, where another inexcusable case of mistaken identity took place.

While the English Premier League has adopted goal-line technology to help refs determine if the ball went into the goal, there’s still the matter of there being three sets of eyes to watch 44 legs.

In Manchester City’s home match against West Brom on Saturday, referee Neil Swarbrick pulled out his red card less than two minutes in when Craig Dawson took down Wilfried Bony in the box to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.

Only Swarbrick showed the red to another West Brom defender, Gareth McAuley.

Players have numbers for a reason, yet those identifiers were apparently ignored Saturday.

It’s not the first time this has happened in the EPL.

In fact, it was exactly a year ago Saturday that referee Andre Marriner sent off Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a Kieran Gibbs hand ball in the box against Chelsea. (The fact that the blocked shot was not goal-bound meant it should not have been a red card, but that’s beside the point).

In both cases, fortunately for the officials, the final outcome was not affected. City won handily, 3-0, and likely would have won even if there wasn’t a red card shown early. Likewise, Chelsea absolutely thrashed Arsenal 6-0 and was up 2-0 after seven minutes before the infraction occurred about 10 minutes later.

This weekend’s incident took place on the left wing, furthest away from an assistant ref, so he perhaps did not have any help identifying the culprit. Last year’s occurrence was right in front of a linesman who apparently did not help his head official in the least.

While some referee decisions are made in a split-second and involve judgment on gray areas, the decision of which player to send off should be cut and dry.

It’s not as if this was a goaltending call on a 3-pointer in the final seconds of an NCAA tournament game; it’s simply a matter of pointing out the person who was already correctly called for a foul.

More eyes on the field that can aid officials would no doubt help eliminate such egregious errors.

The Champions League is already headed in that direction, having experimented with two end-line refs for five years. Like the men’s NIT this year trying out a 30-second shot clock (a move that definitely should be made), the Champions League is showing the way in a rule change that I hope is implemented by FIFA soon.

Not that the UCL touch-line refs are perfect. They have no flags and are merely there to watch and provide assistance when the center referee asks for it.

If you get an egotistical official — some may read that as redundant — he may choose to ignore the fourth and fifth refs (or even his assistants on the sidelines).

But it’s a step in the right direction. While most every sport in the world is using some sort of video replay, the least FIFA can do is put a few more eyes on the pitch.

My dad would agree.

 

SOCCER SNIPPETS

WARMING WEATHER

When I played high school soccer there was one reward for making the playoffs that I always enjoyed. It wasn’t just about keeping your season alive, it was about the chance to get to play in warm weather after months of miserable cold and rain.

Just as the sun begins to shine and warm up East Texas, the soccer playoffs have arrived (at least for UIL; TAPPS has been done for a couple weeks now).

Let’s just hope the weather stays this way. (It won’t.)

 

FRIENDLIES

Another international break has arrived (at least outside MLS) so here’s a quick rundown of what to watch.

United States at Denmark, 2 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN) — Though Clint Dempsey was a late scratch, this may be the most complete U.S. squad since the World Cup. They’re in for a fight against a tough Denmark team featuring Kasper Schmeichel in goal, son of Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel.

Brazil at France, 2:55 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2) — Perhaps the most appetizing friendly of the week, with both squads boasting plenty of young talent eager to make an impression.

Ukraine at Spain, 2:30 p.m. Friday (ESPN2) — Fresh off El Clasico on Sunday, many of the players from Barcelona and Real Madrid will team up in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Mexico vs. Ecuador in Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) — El Tri will play in one of their many homes away from home in the United States as they prepare for a Gold Cup challenge this summer and the start of World Cup qualifying later this year.

Serbia at Portugal, 1:30 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2) — Do you need any further excuse to watch Cristiano Ronaldo? BeIN may be hard to find for American viewers wanting to catch a glimpse of one of the world’s greatest athletes in La Liga, so Champions League and international matches are your best bet.

United States at Switzerland, 11 a.m. Tuesday (FS1) — Another battle against a mid-level (but still high quality) European squad should give coach Jurgen Klinsmann a few ideas of how to set up the team for the rest of the year when games start to count.