Germany v England 7:45pm

[TeaCider]

"He was offside" is a meaningless phrase in terms of the offside law.

There is being in an offside position and then there is committing an offside offence. If you don't clearly distinguish between the two, you can never correctly analyse a potential offside situation.

As far as being in an offside position goes, the very first line of Law 11 says:



To commit an offside offence, a player has to become actively involved in play. Reduced to its most basic terms, that means either playing the ball, or preventing an opponent from doing so.

Although Kane was in an offside position, he did not do either of the two things mentioned above, before he was fouled.

Someone in another post mentioned him chasing the ball. However simply moving towards the ball (chasing the ball) does not constitute involvement in active play.

The following passage from the law is highly instructive - and pretty much directly applicable to this incident.

"In situations where: [...] a player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing the ball and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the foul is penalised as it has occurred before the offside offence."

There is also the question of whether the ball was deliberately played by a German defender (which would also preclude an offside offence). However whether it was or it wasn't a deliberate play (and I think it's debatable) Kane had not committed an offside offence prior to being fouled anyway.

As I'd already said days before your reply, I did not see the touch off the German player when I was watching at work.

I'd based my comment on the assumption that it had been a cross from an England player, when it wasn't.

 

[Liamo]

As I'd already said days before your reply, I did not see the touch off the German player when I was watching at work.

I'd based my comment on the assumption that it had been a cross from an England player, when it wasn't.

My post was not about the touch by a German defender (which I think may not meet the definition of a deliberate play anyway). It was pointing out that Kane didn't commit an offside offence under the current law anyway, irrespective of who the ball came from.