Soccer Rules Question (and, why are the Americans so bad? - dmc)

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It's most definitely a vicious cycle. That's also why NZ is crap at soccer, because we don't like it, which is why we are crap at it, etc. But it had to start somewhere, and for NZ, rugby union somehow became our main sport in the late 19th century, possibly because we managed to put together a half decent team that went to England and did well and captured the country's imagination. If we'd sent a soccer team to England, they'd have been destroyed (or more likely, ignored).

 

If it is a viscious cycle how come the US has become better and better at a tremendous pace the last two decades?

 

The argument of causation is a vicious cycle, not what happens in practice. We were trying to work out why a 300m population country was not awesome at the world's most popular sport and we kept going around in circles not getting anywhere. They've probably been getting better and better due to the improvements in communication and TV that mean that it can get more coverage and because it's easier for talented players to get noticed and picked up by overseas clubs where they can hone their talents.

 

supposedly this has been a historic WC in the US in terms of viewership... which means that interest is on the rise.

hopefully this increases interest in the US domestic leagues, which will build on itself... once kids start seeing 23-year old mugs with bad haircuts dating top models and making salaries approaching the big four (US football, basketball, baseball, hockey), we'll be off to the races...

 

Hey, that makes ME want to put on my soccer boots!

 

You shouldn't say that players in the U.S. don't play football because of the low wages. ALL the worlds best players move to play in Europe, where the players make stupid money. All they need to do is be good enough to make a name for themselves a big European club will come in for them. So that argument falls on its arse.

 

"Famous in Europe" doesn't quite cut it in the US, mate (and probably that's part of the problem).

Case in point: David Hasslehoff.

Probably every other boy in the US has a poster of LeBron James in their room. But I guarantee the McBride (or even Beckham) posters are limited to a small subset who actually play youth league soccer...

 

Hasslehoff is famous in Germany, not the rest of Europe. The rest of Europe would very much like to skewer him on a pike.

And the US not caring about things that happen in Europe is my whole point about you guys being only interested in yourselves . You should give European footie a try, you'd love it!

 

Exactly. Let's put it this way Barmy - you can probably identify more players on the U.S. squad than I can. If you can name more than two you got me beat. I think your comment about playing in Europe is correct. I'm sure there are many Europeans that know more about American players than most Americans do.

 

Hence why Americans should take more interest in European football! It's the elite of club football. It would be like an English person trying to take an interest in American Football but following the crappy local English stuff instead of watching the NFL.

The best wages and levels football are abroad, and all American football players know that. A few have actually sort of made it. A few more have tried to make it and failed. The more American football gets more popular, the more players slowly seep into the European leagues.

In fact, the big clubs in Europe are now setting up 'bases' so to speak in the USA, as they see it as a great untapped market. It's worked on teh Japanese and Koreans a treat. The Asians love their football now and did not really know it until recently.

 

Yeah, it's like how I can name just about every NFL team and NBA teams, but most Americans wouldn't be able to name all the English Premier League soccer teams. People overseas take more interest in American sports than Americans take of overseas sports.

 

I know the basic rules of soccer, like whe to give yellow and reds, what Offside is blabla.
But I have a question about being Offside.
Like in one of the last games (Japan - Brazil)

2 attackers are heading forward. 1 takes the ball with him beyond the defense-line and the other runs along with him. Now the 2 of them are only facing the goalkeeper. Attacker A plays the ball to attacker B. Is that Offside?
And, would it make a difference if Attacker B is standing behind attacker A when he recieves the ball (Attacker A playing the ball slightly away from the goal)?

 

So long as both players are behind the ball (i.e. the ball is between them and the goal) then they will not be offside. To be offside you have to be closer to the goal than the ball and the defence.

 

It's only offside if the ball is passed forward to a player who is closer to the goal than the last defender.

If a ball is passed backwards or level, regardless of where the players are on the pitch, it's not offside.

 

You also have to be actually doing something relevant to the game. You can stand in an offside position all day if the ball is down the other end of the field.

 

Well yeah, it's got to be passed to the player, or the player must be active in some other way.

 

That was the information I was looking for.

Btw, did I say Brazil - Japan? I meant France - Togo, 14th minute: Henry and Ribery (iirc). One passing the ball to the other, then a goal, but it was called offside. That was what got me thinking and arguing with my roommate.
After all, I seemed right. And now I wonder why I doubted myself...

 

What is the criteria for calling an intentional handball - is it purely subjective?

I mean, some cases are obvious. If you jump up and knock the ball out of the air with your hands, that's intentional. Conversely, if someone behind you kicks the ball into the back of your arm, that cannot possibly be intentional. Is it left to the referee's discretion for stuff between the extremes?

 

It's only handball if the ref deems it intentional. What you've got to bear in mind is that a lot of players are skilled at handling the ball and making it look unintentional, the ref sometimes pulls a player up for handballing it when the ball just hit his arm. It's all down the refs discretion, although it's usually pretty obvious when a player just gets a ball blasted at him and he can't get his arms out of the way.