The Offside Rule

It seems we may no longer be able to poke fun at women for not knowing the offside rule, because, as things seem to be getting more and more complicated, us men aren’t actually too sure of certain ‘circumstances’ either.

Incase you didn’t see the game last night, it was pretty even although Italy looked the more threatening, up until Holland scored. What happened was Buffon clashed with Panucci, knocking Panucci off the pitch injured. Some Dutch player shot, and Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who was about 3 yards ahead of the 2nd last Italian player (on the pitch), tapped it in. Everyone in the stadium was confused, especially the Dutch players, who waited for a flag before running off celebrating when nothing happened. Many believe at the time, the linesman was unaware Van Nistelrooy had touched it. But if he did, the only reason he could have given the goal was because he thought Panucci was still active/interfering with play.

In my mind, it was blatantly no goal. Panucci had been off the pitch for nearly 10 seconds when Ruud turned it in. In no way did he interfere with play and in no way was he off the pitch to gain an advantage. Now, this can obviously link to the whole ‘should TV evidence be used’ argument, but to me, it was so obviously offside that TV evidence shouldn’t even come into the equation. However, as a supporter of the Azzurri, my opinion probably counts for nothing.

What do you think? Offside or not?