World Cup 2010

Both Germany and Argentina were still clearly the better teams and won with more than 1 goal difference. Those calls shouldn't have happened, and I hope the FIFA finally pull their heads out of their ***** and into the 21e century, but those were hardly match deciding events imo.

Actually it is not only goal kicks. A fumbled throw or a bad back pass serve the same purpose. The important part is that the ball has to come from a member of the opposing team.

So... out of curiosity, if a player passes the ball into an offside player and it happens to hit an opposing player on the way through does that put the attacker onside?

Agreed on all accounts.
I was very relieved to see Germany win it decisively. Otherwise this mistake could have awakened more bad blood than it is worth.
I have seen most of the matches of this World Cup and have to say that there are some referees who are not even fit to run a game on any international level let alone a World Cup match. And it is not only FIFA regulations that are to blame: yes, the FIFA has some strange views about how the rules are to be interpreted, and yes, drawing referees from states that hardly have a football league to speak of and thus letting clear amateurs referee matches on an international level is incredibly stupid. But what bugs me most are the grave mistakes made drawing referees from countries that should have something better to offer.
From a German point of view the best (or rather worst) example is a certain Mr Undiano from Spain, a beautiful European country with really great football clubs that should have one or two decent referees. And which one gets sent to the World Cup? The one who was allegedly involved in betting scandals and who is known to confuse authority and narcissism on a regular basis. If you saw the match Germany vs. Serbia you have my compassion for waiting 90 minutes for something akin to a football match to happen which was successfully prevented by Alberto Undiano's one-man show. Every physical contact was considered a foul and every actual foul was considered worthy of a yellow card. Fortunately it was a very fair game (no wonder given the fact that the time between free kicks was almost too short for actual fouls) so the players got off easy with "only" eight yellow cards in one case culminating in a yellow-red.
And although that was (in my view) the worst case there are others not too far behind. It goes so far that I am actually happy for every match that is refereed by an apparently sapient person. I only wish there were more of them.

Nope. The opposing player has to have played the ball in order to put the attacker onside, so "glancing blows" or a goalie merely deflecting a kick do not count.
Especially the latter case leads quite often to cases of passive offsides becoming active offsides when the formerly passively offsides player decides to go for the deflected ball, but that is already higher offsides science.

OK, so if you kick in and they opposing player strikes at it they are then onside? As long as it is a deliberate attempt? Sorry to be dense, I'm Kiwi and we play rugby.

If you mean what I think you mean that sounds perfectly right to me. And do not worry: I have only a grasp of the most basic of rugby rules, but it sure is a fun game. It is like the lovechild of football and handball with a healthy amount of shopping during a seasonal sale on a Saturday afternoon thrown in.

Well least its stopped so many damn english songs being played constantly on the radio

Looking forward to watching the world cup properly now [that being not having England mentioned in every god damn match!]

Come on ghana!!!!!

Well least its stopped so many damn english songs being played constantly on the radio

Looking forward to watching the world cup properly now [that being not having England mentioned in every god damn match!]

Come on ghana!!!!!

I really hope none of the players use that as an excuse. Their entire overall WC was nowhere near as good as it should have been. If they had put any effort in to their group games, they would have faced Ghana instead of Germany.

Few more days and they'll all jet off to some sunny private island to "get over the humiliation" that they now feel . . . . . .

Sorry but i have zero sympathy for them. Thinking they were world beaters when out of 4 world cup matches they only beat slov 1 - 0

Being level at 2-2 with Germany as it would of been if it counted might of made some difference. Infact I think it would of, but Germany would of probably won 3-2 in that case.

Meaning the entirety of Britain will be behind "plucky Brit" Andy Murray, until he loses, at which point he becomes a Scotsman

Yet the bigger friday will be Revenge on the team that beat us too many times before, time to get even.. in a big way

(ok personaly i think holland will loose versus brazil, though i would like to see for once.. they would win).

I'm not that sure Germany would have won having England 2-2. I bet Capello would have set up his usual Hadrian's Wall (let's not forget fabio Capello is the man who took "catenaccio" to a whole new level) and either a lucky counter-attack or even penalty kicks could have put England on next round.

I think what happened to England and Mexico was a shame, a World Cup should be decided by players game and not by referee mistakes. Unfortunately, it is what we have had under Blatter's reign for a while, check what happened to both Italy and Spain against South Korea in 2002 and add it to Lampard's goal and Tevez first goal against Mexico (what a great goal he scored afterwards btw).

Of course, one can never adventure what would have happened if things had gone another way, pity we'll never know now.-

This is all that needs to be said to get the technology to come. Good words.

On the other hand, I hope they don't

Oh, and YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!