Ulsan, South Korea ? Less than an inch.

That’s how close the United States was from tying Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal against Germany.

Claudio Reyna took a corner kick in the 49th minute and Gregg Berhalter sent a 6-yard shot toward the net.

Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn dived to his right and the ball bounced off the goalie and started to cross the line near the far post.

But the ball hit the left arm of defender Torsten Frings, appearing on replays never to fully cross the line. It bounced back, Kahn pounced on it and the chance was over.

Scottish referee Hugh Dallas, despite arguments from the Americans, declined to award a penalty kick.

“I don’t want to be a sore loser, but that was a clear handball, and the referee should have given him a red card,” Berhalter said.

Reyna, the U.S. captain, recalled that in Monday’s 2-0 victory against Mexico in the second round the referee failed to call a hand-ball on John O’Brien when he punched it out of the penalty area.

“Yeah, those are the breaks,” Reyna said. “But we’re not going to cry like the Mexicans did. That’s the game of soccer. We had other chances.”

The key is whether Frings moved his arm to stop the ball or whether the arm was at is side.

“If the ball strikes the defender accidentally, no offense is committed,” soccer rules state.

Replays weren’t conclusive, but it looked more likely that Frings didn’t move his arm.

“If it’s hand to ball, it’s a penalty. If it’s ball to hand, it’s not a penalty,” U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel said. “It’s a 50-50 call. Some refs will call it. Some refs won’t.”

The play was a blur to Germany’s goalkeeper.

“I didn’t see anything,” Kahn said. “I just suddenly saw the ball underneath me and two U.S. players ran into me.”

U.S. coach Bruce Arena didn’t complain about the non-call.

The play brought back memories of another close call for the United States, when Peter Vermes’ shot bounced through the legs of Walter Zenga during the 1990 Cup, but was slowed down by the goalkeeper’s thigh. Defender Riccardo Ferri cleared the ball and Italy won 1-0.