The Offside Rule, Explained With Stickman!

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Offside Rule, The Basics:


Alright, so yesterday during Germany vs Costa Rica game, Sylvia came and asked me on MSN what's an offside. Yes I know some of you out there are erm 'pretending' to know, but in actualy fact you thought it's just a rule that stops team from scoring goals. Well actually it's right, it stops team from scoring some goals, but of course there's a reason behind it. Remember in primary school when we played football, the striker is ALWAYS the one that stands right infront of the opponent goalkeeper. Then when he receives the ball, all he needs to do is to turn and shoot and GOALL.

Yes, generally offside is to stop teams from placing their striker just right infront of the goalkeeper and score some cheapo goals (Bolton will be world champions then). It is also a rule to catch those lazy strikers (VanNistelrooy, Inzaghi, etc) off guard and for the camera to show their faces more. No just kidding. Okay, let me show you what is an offside.

OFFSIDE:

Don't mind my drawing! That's the statement here. Okay anyway you'll be seeing lots of this in the World Cup and this IS offside. Usually the 4 (or 3) defenders will form a defensive line and most teams tend to play 'offside trap'. In the picture above, you can see when player A passed the ball to player B, player B's position is behind that blue line, or lets call it the defensive line. So that means he is nearer to the goal than the defenders and therefore he is deemed offside.

ONSIDE:

Looks familiar? Yes this happened it last night's game. Costa Rica's first goal to be precise. When player A passed the ball, player B looks to be in an offside position. But at a closer look, there was a player on the right that wasn't aware of the situation, stood behind that line and therefore he is said to have 'played player B onside'. So player B is not offside and referee will not stop play.

Of course there are exceptions to the offside rule. Remember always that throw ins doesnt constitute to offside and that if it's a defender's back-pass, then there will not be offside. There is also a change of rule by FIFA, about the interfering with play or not, but simple Drogballs doesn't give a toss about that rule because it makes no sense. If you're offside you are. If you're not then you're not. Why make it so complicated? Anyway the rule that I'm saying is that if you're in offside position and the ball is passed in your direction and yet you don't touch it, the referee will NOT stop the play. Yea, confusing? Nevermind about that. End of the off-side lesson guys. Recap:

It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position. 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.

A player is not in an offside position if

• he is in his own half of the field of play or
• he is level with the second last opponent or
• he is level with the last two opponents.

A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:

• interfering with play or
• interfering with an opponent or
• gaining an advantage by being in that position

That's about it guys. If you have any more doubts, head over to FIFA.com and check the rules out. It's important that you should at least understand the basics of the rule before watching. Anyway I hope I ain't wrong in any of those drawings! Or I'll get sued! Peace guys.

Tags: World Cup 2006, England, Steven Gerrard, Offside Rule