I'm sure you're watching the Euro.Controversial no call in the Netherlands-Italy game this week. One of Italy's defenders was pushed off the field of play by his own goalie in a collision. On the ensuing rebound, a Dutch player sent a shot back into the area that Van Nistelroy deflected into the goal as pictured above. The goal was allowed.
But was it offside?
Italians everywhere think Van Nistelroy was off. The ESPN analysts, including the respectable Julie Foudy, also thought it was a blown call. UEFA thinks the referee got it right.
Whether the call was correct depends upon the interpretation of the offside rule. Rule 11 of the Laws of the Game states simply that "A player is in an offside position if he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than the ball and the second last opponent." There's nothing about this unique situation in the rule itself. UEFA says that the Italian defender got injured and left the field on his own momentum. Therefore, he is still part of the game and taken into consideration for the offside rule. It makes sense if you think about it. Without this rule, a player could deliberately step off the field to put her opponent in an offside position.
What do you think?
We've had some controversy of our own about the offside rule. It's one of the great rules in sports. So simple but hard to officiate. The rule has a major impact on the way the game is played, emphasizing action in the midfield and rewarding the teams that can build an attack.
What do you think?
We've had some controversy of our own about the offside rule. It's one of the great rules in sports. So simple but hard to officiate. The rule has a major impact on the way the game is played, emphasizing action in the midfield and rewarding the teams that can build an attack.
According to the UEFA interpretation, the referees got it right and I would have to agree. It's not discussed often, that little rule that says that even if a player steps off the field, offside is still active. This would not be the case with an injured player, or a player waiting to get back on the field from an injury, but in the run of play, that player still counts.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since he was knocked off of the field by his own player (Buffon ran over Panucci), the referees saw Panucci as an active player, even though he was off the field of play.
If he had stepped off deliberately in an effort to make the referees think Van Nistelrooy was offside, that would have been a yellow card. That's not what he did, but UEFA says the refs got it right, which means that this is a rule to look for when it happens (although it will rarely, if ever, actually happen in one of our matches).
Think about it....if Van Nistleroy is offsides in this situation then the next thing defenders will start doing is "falling" off the field in order to get opposing players called offsides. The call was correct. Frankly, I am amazed they got it right! If I was the line judge I would've seen Van next to the goalie, with no other defender, and called him off.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Panucci stay down so long? He wasn't injured - he was bumped out by his own goalie - his team was in trouble - if he wanted to, he could have been up in a flash try to defend.
I once got kicked so hard that I couldn't walk properly for months, but the second after it happened I was up on my feet ready to go. It was only about 10 seconds later that the pain started and I fell to the ground. These guys are professionals and in prime shape, if they want to get up they can - better than just about anybody in the world.
All the writhing around on the ground really gets my goat!
i agree, Panucci stayed down a long time. I'm sure he was hurting but he clearly wanted the play to end, like a lot of injured players do when they go down.
ReplyDeleteit was a good call. i'm sure if reffing i wouldn't have know the rule and would have called the goal back.
Poland's goal was offsides!
ReplyDeleteThe linesman was standing at the corner flag rather than inline with the second to last defender.
I've been rooting for the home sides - I'm a big Swiss fan - too bad they've played so poorly. Even if they had Frei they still would've had an underwhelming performance. But Austria has been inspiring - they gave the Checz a run for their money and they were the better team yesterday against Poland - they need a good striker to finish those great chances they created.
yeah, the Polish guy was offside. It was clear; kinda surprised they missed it. But the refs correctly called Ronaldo onside when Portugal that incredible restart to take a 3-1 lead. That was a hard call.
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