CBC-Sports

Keep your arms down, defenders

January 4, 2010 12:07 PM | Posted by   John Molinaro  

It's a familiar scene on the soccer field, one you've probably witnessed a million times:

A cross gets whipped into the middle of the box from the wing, a mad goal-mouth scramble ensues and the ball eventually lands at the feet of an opportunistic striker who pokes it past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

While the forward celebrates, the defenders partake in what has becoming one of the most annoying rituals in the modern game: shooting their arms in the air in unison in a desperate plea to convince the assistant referee that the player was offside and the goal should not be allowed to stand.

Every defender has done it at one time another, from the lowliest hoofer trying to make a living in England's League Two, to players the calibre of Carlos Puyol, John Terry and Fabio Cannavaro. It happens at least once in almost every game and has become as much a part of the game as diving.

And it has to stop.

Players are often taken to task for trying to convince the referee to show an opponent a yellow card after they’ve suffered a foul. In particular, players who brandish an imaginary yellow card in an attempt to get another player booked are viewed as morally reprehensible, and the argument has been made that they should be the one who gets cautioned for their un-sportsmanlike actions.

Once we get that rule on the books (let's hope the International Football Association Board, soccer's official rule-making body, makes it happen within the next year) it would make sense to book players who insist perfectly legitimate goals should be negated.

That's not to suggest that players should not have any recourse when they honestly think a goal was scored in an offside position - that should be left to the captain to pursue with the officials. But this routine that defenders have of jetting their arms in the air as soon as the ball crosses the line and looking at the ref with a hopeful plea after a perfectly legitimate goal is shameful.

Such an act is not only cowardly, but it's also a deliberate attempt to con the referee and as such, it must be dealt with in the same manner that officials deal with simulation.

Follow John Molinaro on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro

" Previous Post | Main
  •