>>At the moment Player A takes a shot, Player B is offside. The ball goes directly into the goal without being touched by anybody. Is it still offside?
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>If Player B is in active game, yes it's offside...
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>What is active game? :)))
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>Our ex-referees fighting about positions like this issue every week on our TV's... :)
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>BTW I'm watching Portugal-Netherland match now it's beginning like an american football or ice-hockey match... Players are fighting... :))


That was the most out-of-control soccer match I have ever seen. The Russian referee must have come from a rollerball background. When I turned it on, early in the second half, there had just been a foul and players on both teams were milling around together, pushing and talking angrily. One of the announcers said this is exactly what we were afraid was going to happen, that the referee has lost control of the match. It just got worse from there. Vicious sliding tackles, goalkeepers being run over or kicked. One of the vicious tackles followed a piece of unsporting play by the Dutch that you just don't see at this level (not giving the ball back to the other team after an injury stoppage).

The most amazing play to me was when a foul was called on the Netherlands and a Portuguese player started to take the free kick. A Dutch player came up to him and wrapped his arms around him to impede the kick. That's supposed to be a yellow card right there but nothing was called. He then threw the Portuguese player to the ground. Again, no card or even a foul call. And THEN, most amazingly at all, the referee came over and gave the Portuguese player a yellow card, followed by a red since he had an earlier yellow. I still would love to hear an explanation of that one. Even though Portugal won, they have to play England in the quarterfinals without two of their key players who got red cards yesterday.

One camera shot said it all. Towards the end of the game they showed three players, two Dutch and one Portuguese, sitting in the area where players are sent after being ejected. Despite the fact that an elimination game was still going on, with the score 1-0, and despite all the hostilities on the field, they were talking like old friends. And you just knew what they were talking about -- the referee.

It's a shame for the Dutch team because no team should be eliminated under such circumstances. It was a circus. There is an old saying that players win games, coaches lose games, and referees ruin games. This one was ruined.

The best match of the weekend IMO was Argentina vs. Mexico. Mexico outplayed them most of the game but Argentina tied it and hung in there until overtime. The game winning shot by the Argentinian was about as beautiful a shot as you will ever see.

I can't get too excited by today's games. Then it's back to heavyweights tomorrow: Brasil vs. Ghana and Spain vs. France.