Correct Offsides Call in South Africa vs. Mexico

ESPN Flubs South Africa vs. Mexico Offsides Call
When everyone took a breath, it turned out the refs got the call correct.

In short, the offside rule reads as follows:
"A player is in an offside position if: he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent."
Since South Africa keeper Itumeleng Khune charged off his line, trying to push away Gerrardo Torrado's corner, it left only Steven Pienaar left on the line. That meant when Khune went forward, Vela was in an offside position, regardless of the Everton man's position on the line. Just think of Pienaar becoming the de facto goalie on the play.

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:25 PM

    Thank you for clearing that up for me. I no longer hate the refs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4:59 PM

    ohhh!!! that last sentence clears it all up for me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous5:15 PM

    yeah right, and now Pienaar can grab the ball and do goalie functions, because he is the second last opponent.. BS interpretation...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9:03 PM

    What would happen if FIFA got rid of an offside rule altogether? Would it make the game better? Would it bring more scoring? A "no offside" rule would be fair for both teams. Each team would have to decide how it wants to attack and defend and with how many players. Should there be an offside rule?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:28 PM

    Crazy suggestion! Offside makes football - football! It would be a silly game otherwise, with an attacker constantly at the goal line waiting for the ball... silly...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anon 3 is an idiot. Nice of you to remind the casual fan of the rules, Jer. BTW, how're the kids?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous12:12 AM

    It's still a bush-league call. Pennar had play on the ball. Refs are taught the "spirit of the game." The ref split hairs on the call. The attacker didn't get unfair advantage.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:38 AM

    Yeah, but that only relates to players in an offside position that don't impact the play. In this case, the guy in the offside position scored the goal. So, how is that not an unfair advantage????

    ReplyDelete
  9. i thought it was obvious... lol

    ReplyDelete
  10. try expaining that to my seven year old doing his first fantasy team. he not only picked vela, he started him. he was forlorn to say the least. he also saw vela almost have two assists. it was fun me watching him root for any mexican. i am dutch american and my wife is brazilian, so brazil and USA hate mexico.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:55 AM

    funny that the commentators dont know this

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous3:25 PM

    Hats off to the Fantasy EPL blog who had the foresight to have an actual ref participating in the match chat. No one led astray there!

    ReplyDelete