You Be the Ref!
Alright, boys - it's time to pull on your referee's kit today. You may have seen a million YouTubed posts on social media of the Barcelona penalty taken by Leo Messi and scored by Luis Suarez at the weekend (or heard the screams of ecstasy from the likes of Ray Hudson on GolTV) in a 6-1 drubbing of Real Betis.
Yet, I've got one question for you - why was it legal? I've got a few problems with it. First, I always thought that a penalty kick was a direct free kick taken from the spot directly at goal. Of course, if the keeper saves it or if there is a rebound off the woodwork, another player is free to follow in. However, this is clearly not that case.
Second, when the kick is taken, Suarez is clearly already a mile inside the box, which would also call for re-take, in my mind.
Finally, it's a forward pass to another teammate, with only the keeper as a defensive player. How is Suarez then not offside?
I don't get it - but maybe you lot of refereeing anoraks can explain it to me. Have a look:
posted by The Blue Devil @ 3:09 PM
3 Comments:
Sorry mate, but it was completely legal. The only issue is whether Suarez was in the box when Messi touched the ball and it looked too close to call from the various replays. This scenario was discussed when I took a refereeing course at Lakenheath. Here are the answers to your questions.
1) A penalty is a direct free kick , meaning the kick can be taken as a direct or indirect free kick As opposed to an indirect free kick that can only be taken as an indirect free kick.
2) At the point Messi made contact with the ball it appeared to me that Suarez was right on the line or perhaps inches behind the line. I would give the ref the benefit of the doubt since he doesn't have access to replays
3) Suarez was onside because he was behind the ball the entire time, so it doesn't matter how many defensive players are ahead of him. That only matters if he is ahead of the ball, which he wasn't.
As far as I know it was completely legal.
Wow - thanks for the exhaustive answer, mate. I really appreciate it. I suppose it's because I've never seen it done. It just didn't look right.
Of course Messi and Suarez cocked it up. This is how you take a Cruyff penalty. https://youtu.be/4Rssr9a3xPU
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