Regarding the offside non-call: I, like everyone else, couldn’t believe it at the time until I heard about the interpretation of the rule. It’s harsh, but fair. As I understand it, the interpretation is designed to prevent a defender stepping over the bye-line, taking himself out of the play and playing an attacker offside. Panucci may have been injured, but how are the linesman and ref supposed to know if it’s genuine, especially given how quickly everything happened? Should they wait until the physio comes to inspect the player before deciding if the goal stands? But of course the Italian physio would be biased – should there be an independent doctor on call to assess the injury?…

I’m drifting into sarcasm here so I’ll sign off…

Hmm, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? And it is true that what is deemed beautiful is often superficial. But not always. Holland’s second goal (von Bronckhorst to Kuyt to Sneijder) was classically lovely and sublime enough for me. I probably haven’t seen enough of purely negative football to judge it fairly, though I probably won’t ever care about any team whose aim is to win every match 1-0.

As for the mysterious rule that suddenly came into play, no kidding everyone missed it. I’ve played soccer at a high level all my life and never heard of it. I asked no less than four referees (2 sanctioned by FIFA) and they all had a different take on it – though three said they would have called it. UEFA’s statement was bizarre. As was the Italian soccer federation saying it was a just call.

Whenever something like this happened during my experience the referee ALWAYS chose a cautious approach and called it. The little known fine print in the call is that Panucci was clearly not seeking an advantage and was winded. If he were standing and refusing to come back in then it’s a different story.

Then there’s the added dimension of passive offside if the ref doesn’t call it because the ball was cleared and Van Gol was not interefering with the play. Even that could have gone either way. Last, Dutch fans will say well they collided not our problem. True. But where’s this “fair” play we’re always talking about?

AT the end of the day, it had nothing to do with the outcome in my opinion. Italy was simply flat. Holland was prepared. But it’s only the first game.

There isn’t a more over rated discussion in soccer than “positive” and “negative” soccer. What pleses the eyes is considered “positive” but also sometimes superficial. Whta is taken as negative is sometimes sublime and sophisticated.

About Ruud’s goal, I thought it was offsides. The referee never hesitated. I guess Panucci was still considered in play. I don’t know, that’s a new one. But you could see how some defenders may go off the field, massage their calf for a bit, get an offside called for his team (or something), then trot back onto the field for the kick. Risky for the defender leaving his team a man down, but one could see how to take advantage of Panucci’s situation. However, I thought since the ball crosses the line, and goes out of play it applies to the player as well. :-S

I’ll be surprised if we see another goal as good as Sneijder’s. It was a thing of beauty from the moment van Bronckhorst cleared the line to the near impossible needle of space Sneijder was able to thread. Kuyt’s header to him was placed thigh-high so he had to jump and bend his leg like a hurdler to get to it. I wonder how many times the average fan in orange will watch that replay?

That WSJ article you linked at the end was interesting. I wasn’t surprised to find that my two favorite teams in Europe, England and Holland, have the worst records in penalty shoot-outs. (Though I can’t very well curse Podaspheria for PK fates after the Champions’ League final, can I?) Someone in the article said penalties are impossible to practice because you can never replicate the tension of those moments. However, I think the Dutch now have the right idea. You can at least put it into muscle memory. Plus, if there are little cues you can pick up, either as the taker or the keeper, that foretell a direction, say, that’s something repetition could help, too. It’s not like rock-paper-scissors, after all, is it?

That was a great post, Susan. I enjoyed reliving the game as I read it. Now let’s see what the Netherlands have got left for the rest of the tournament.