| Offside Rule - Usually, soccer rules are easy to grasp | | | | game, he will not be called, despite having a clear |
| even by someone that's watching the game for the | | | | offside position. An attacker is in an offside position if |
| first time in his life. You foul someone, you get | | | | he is closer to the other team's goal line than the ball |
| penalized. You hit him in the box, his team gets a | | | | and the second last opponent. You'll often hear |
| penalty. The ball goes beyond the marked area, it's | | | | people say "he was in offside, because he was |
| an out throw. Everything is really basic, except the | | | | further towards the goal than the LAST defender". |
| soccer offside rules. This is one tricky rule and | | | | This is actually not a correct statement, since this |
| although it's not in the original soccer cookbook (as in, | | | | doesn't take the goalkeeper into account, so the |
| it was added over the course of time) it's a much | | | | LAST defender is actually the second last, as the |
| needed one, so that's why I'll try to explain it a bit. | | | | above mentioned offside rule shows. So let's say |
| The offside trap rule only applies to attackers and it | | | | that team "Yellow" is attacking and "Red" is |
| is meant to regulate both team's positions on the | | | | defending. The ball is at the feet of Yellow's |
| pitch. Without an offside rule, an attacker could | | | | midfielder and the Yellow attacker is a few meters |
| simply stay in the other team's penalty box, receive | | | | further to the Red team's goal line, than the last Red |
| balls and try to score. This would pin down the | | | | defender. Then the Yellow attacker is in an offside |
| defenders and they would virtually be unable to play | | | | position, but the referee will only call an offside |
| anywhere else outside their own penalty box, since | | | | sanction if the Yellow midfielder passes the ball to |
| their main job would be marking the striker that is | | | | the Yellow attacker while the latter is in the offside |
| lazying off in there. It's also a known fact that | | | | position. If you're new to soccer, the offside rule |
| attackers generally don't have the same effort | | | | might need a bit of getting used to, but you'll soon |
| requirements on the pitch, since they only need to | | | | be able to spot exactly how and why someone was |
| participate in one phase of the game (the offense), | | | | called offside if you watch a few matches. Note that |
| unlike defenders and midfielders who have to | | | | sometimes, the position of the attacker and the |
| participate in both the offense and defense, thus | | | | other team's defender are so close together, that |
| having to run more. So now that you know WHY the | | | | the referee will have hard time deciding whether or |
| soccer offside rule is there, let's see WHAT it is | | | | not an offside should be called. |
| anyway. There are two phases of the offside soccer | | | | Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer |
| rule: the offside position and the offside trap sanction. | | | | Fans website that provides information on various |
| If an attacker is in an offside position, he will only be | | | | topics related to soccer such as the history of |
| sanctioned if the ball is heading towards him and he | | | | soccer, soccer rules, famous soccer players, real time |
| has an intention to play it. Otherwise, if he skips the | | | | news, statistics, and training guides. |