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Comment by yowzadave | Hacker News Reader

How do you defend against an opponent trying to score an own goal? Wouldn’t it be off-sides if you got between the player and their goal?

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No, you'd be offside if your own team member passed you the ball while you were between the player and their goal. You wouldn't be offside if the other team had the ball.

Football would be a nightmare if players were hanging out in the other team's box, waiting for the ball to be hoofed upfield to them so they could tap it into the back of the net. Offside stops this from happening by making sure that the receiving player is not in front of the opposition's defensive line.

> Football would be a nightmare if players were hanging out in the other team's box, waiting for the ball to be hoofed upfield to them so they could tap it into the back of the net

this is the commonly-held wisdom on offside, but I’m a little sceptical of it. 7-a-side, 5-a-side and futsal manage just fine without the offside rule (admittedly on smaller pitches). I suspect that 11-a-side would just look different without offside, it wouldn’t be a completely broken game. your best defenders would still have fair battles with your best attackers, and midfielders-midfielders etc

I don't think it would be completely broken, per se, but as a spectacle I think it would be ruined...Obviously not a big concern for 7-a-side, 5-a-side, etc.

why do you think the spectacle would be ruined?

Taking things to the extreme...because you'd effectively have a group of players in one box, a group of players in another box and not a whole lot in between. You'd remove the need for midfielders almost entirely and The game would become much more about who can hoof the ball furthest downfield and much less about strategy, which is what makes football beautiful. I guess the tldr version is the game would be simplified so much as to remove any nuance, thereby removing most of what makes it beautiful to watch.

At least one forward would hang close to the opponent's goalkeeper, guarded by a defender. Teams would be spread in length over the pitch. There will probably be many special strategies. Maybe everybody would be in the box when the other goalkeeper kicks the ball. That's prevented by offside now. BTW offside works only in the opponent's half of the pitch.

It wouldn't be a broken game in that it'd still function, but I can't imagine it'd be an enjoyable one to watch.

why not?

Field size makes all the difference. Try to play on full-size football field for 90 minutes and you start to understand a lot of weird rules and tactics in football.

I’m saying this from a position of having played plenty of 11-a-side football in my life

As long as a nominal defender (not counting the goalie) is in between you and the goal, I don't think you're off-side. So presumably it means you have to a) maintain possession of the ball or 2) clear the ball before all other defenders are able to make it past whoever currently has possession. A) sounds a lot easier than 2), though.

No. A player in an offside position is absolutely allowed to receive the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball.

As others have said it would not be offside under current rules, but to answer your question the only realistic way to defend against an own goal would be time wasting, faking injury, geberally keeping the ball away from the 16 yard box.

No because they control the ball. You are only offside if your team is controling the ball + you are actively involved in the play [your team's attack]

Interfering with the ball is sufficient to be called for off-side - you need to be in active play, but you can do that when your team doesn't have possession.

What you are describing would make attacking the keeper pointless for example when they dropped the ball from hand for a kickoff, cause that would be offside which is not true.

By your description Mandzukic's WC final goal should be offside https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzN-ahqULc4

Ball is rolling towards the goal - if the attacking player touches it, it will be offsides: A player in an offside position has entered active play by "interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate".

Goalkeeper makes a save, since the ball is rolling towards the goal. If the attacking player touches it, it will be offsides: A player in an offside position has entered active play by "challenging an opponent for the ball" or "gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent when it has [...] been deliberately saved by any opponent".

The goalkeeper deliberately plays the ball. Immediately afterwards, the attacking player receives the ball played by the goalkeeper - this is not offsides, since "a player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent."

https://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/lawsandrules...

Sure, but that doesn't apply here. If you watch the video, the defender passes back to the goalkeeper. Backpasses by the defending team that are intercepted by the attacking player (even if they are in an offside position) are not considered offside, regardless of whether the attacker touches the ball first or the goalkeeper. From your link, this is the pertinent line:

"A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by:

...

gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent when it has:

  - rebounded or been deflected off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent

  - been deliberately saved by any opponent

A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent."

The "active play" part is a recent addition I think; at the time of this match it wasn't part of the law.

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