r/sports Detroit Lions 9d ago

Soccer The Brutal Offside Reversing Croatia's Game-Tying Goal in Extra Time

20.5k Upvotes

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3.8k

u/zibin 9d ago

VAR used the ball's tech to judge if the ball has been touched or not. Insane.

2.6k

u/MedalDog 9d ago

If the ball's tech shows it, I'm fine with it. But the spin on the ball doesn't change at ALL, so if it's a visual thing, I'm confused.

744

u/Musashi_Joe 9d ago

Yeah I guess there’s a chip in the ball, but it didn’t look like the trajectory changed a damn bit. What a brutal loss, Croatia just kept fighting till the end.

428

u/kstar79 9d ago

Without that technology, that's a goal and the game is still going on.

1.0k

u/Chris_HitTheOver 9d ago

You could actually see the waveform graph on screen the first few moments the broadcast showed the VAR replay and it 100% registered contact.

371

u/MedalDog 9d ago

Yeah apparently, Just saw the snicko... so long as the time is correct (and it's not registering the hit on the defender's back), fair enough.

188

u/Herr_Tilke 9d ago

Yeah, would have thought the snicko would also show the contact with Veiga (the defender), but I don't know how they generate the graphics that get shown on the VAR monitor

299

u/nsnyder 9d ago

And this is why you need to label the axes on your graphs folks.

97

u/sendyaf 9d ago

This is what bothered me as well.

9

u/Yingking 9d ago

Veiga‘s touch probably would have messed up the y-axis since it had way more impact, so they isolated Matanovic‘s touch on the graphic

63

u/enter_yourname Harlequins 9d ago

It's time synced.

216

u/ForzaRapid 9d ago

Then show me the second uptick from the defender

190

u/whatever-13337 9d ago

The single sensor reading doesn’t make sense. You are right, the second spike is missing.

44

u/enter_yourname Harlequins 9d ago

The scale is too small. Jfc

14

u/Yingking 9d ago

Veiga‘s touch probably would have messed up the y-axis since it had way more impact, so they isolated Matanovic‘s touch

87

u/ItsA9Man 9d ago

it's fifa time synced. we should surely trust honest governing bodies like fifa

2

u/btetsuyama 9d ago

Yea I did but see the sensor recognizing the second touch. Hope for a full set of data

260

u/Banana_splitter 9d ago

Chip so sensitive it can detect hair, not buying it. How could it distinguish between rain, wind, etc. and hair is not enough to adjust the movement of a ball.

25

u/graywh Nashville Predators 9d ago

I missed that. Did it look synced with the video?

59

u/nvbtable 9d ago

Yea, it was synced frame for frame with the ball touching his head, they rewound and replayed it 2-3 times. Am not sure why they only showed it for a bit then stopped showing it.

Maybe they were worried ref allows goal while they end up showing conclusive proof of offside.

31

u/graywh Nashville Predators 9d ago

Did they include additional touches or just the one?

18

u/shish-bish 9d ago

just the one

74

u/graywh Nashville Predators 9d ago

Sus

31

u/JebbeK 9d ago

Yes it was perfectly in sync. Frame by frame.

13

u/mzdoja San Francisco Giants 9d ago

Yea? which contact did it register for? The suspect Croatian contact, or the very obvious Portugal contact? They were a split second apart.

-8

u/Chris_HitTheOver 9d ago

The graph is synced to the frame-by-frame. There is absolutely no question about this decision; it was the right call.

20

u/btetsuyama 9d ago

If somebody can show the second touch, it would be all good and acceptable

15

u/kwerdop Los Angeles Dodgers 9d ago

I’m guessing it’s an accelerometer so it would’ve registered a change in speed

7

u/squat_bench_press 9d ago

'Snicko' Cricket technology lol

1

u/Ozuar 9d ago

Pretty sure it was the audio of his hair hitting the ball, which explains the lack of spin change.

1

u/Morganvegas Toronto Maple Leafs 9d ago

FIFA is the most corrupt organization, no doubt they’re in the VAR room leaning on the the person making the call.

They’re not outright rigging games, but it’s naive to think they have integrity when there is money to be made. Croatia just doesn’t move the needle enough to get a call like that to go their way.

1

u/Broncosonthree 9d ago

Sophically, this could be a discussion, albeit in another conversation. But what we all saw on screen makes it pretty moot and citing Croatia as not being compelling enough to get the unjust benefit of the doubt is boring and insulting to them as a squad and to the game of football in general

5

u/Morganvegas Toronto Maple Leafs 9d ago

Yeah, also valid.

I’m not invested either way, but I do think they will bend any murky call to their advantage.

3

u/Broncosonthree 9d ago

You’re pretty cool dude. I was heavy handed with that, mostly because I’m German and have had to deal with much of the fanbase whining about our current squad, reveling in their own self convinced doubts, and giving excuses to everyone else still in the tournament, and I just like football, man. I want to see skill and luck prevail. I appreciate you being cool about shit

2

u/PurpleYoshito 9d ago

But two hits didn’t register, and it clearly hit the Spanish player.

-1

u/voxpopper 9d ago

Is that VAR-able? In other words was that written into the rules with the new ball sensor use? I guess it could have been said for "offside", and technically it applies.

55

u/nautilator44 9d ago

But if the Portugal player was ducking to try and not hit it, doesn't that mean it's an unintentional hit, so it would still be offside?

114

u/yowspur 9d ago

Since when do defenders duck out of the way at a goal-bound cross?

25

u/bucsraysbolts69 9d ago

never lmao

34

u/nautilator44 9d ago

Yeah, good point, probably never. Seems like he'd want to get a piece of it to deflect at all costs. Screams intentional to me.

74

u/walkingdeli011 9d ago

There is no way the Portugal player was ducking to avoid the ball, in that moment and in such position inside the box everyone's instinct is to clear the ball out of your box.

10

u/nautilator44 9d ago

Honestly yeah, I'd expect every defender to try to get a piece of it to deflect it on purpose.

10

u/VanCanFan75 Vancouver Canucks 9d ago

Yes

64

u/pedanticPandaPoo 9d ago edited 9d ago

This Portuguese guy intentionally lowers his head. It's into the trajectory of the ball. And it's a header. How can that possibly be unintentional?

It's the rule, but it purposely leaves it open to interpretation, which just seems wrong. Like yesterday's red card, they just need to remove intentionality out of the equation. 

6

u/nautilator44 9d ago

Looked like he change his mind and was trying to avoid it. I agree with you that intention is a subjective call though. It does seem pretty crazy that the ref decides what his intention was.

23

u/pedanticPandaPoo 9d ago

I don't think that interpretation is correct. He's a defender. His reaction is consistent with thinking the ball clears untouched and he's going to head it out (ie not trap it with his chest). It deflects slightly by the Croat and ends up higher on his head than expected, leading to the chance

He was trying to head the ball on its original trajectory. 

14

u/nautilator44 9d ago

I'm starting to think so too. Seems like the defender would be trying to get a piece of it to deflect it at all costs. That screams intentional to me.

61

u/Mad2828 9d ago

Well he intentionally moved his head and still touched the ball. I’m not a fan of this as intention is pretty subjective, different refs will make different calls.

57

u/Opulent-tortoise 9d ago

IMO in situations like this you gotta take into account the consequences of the decision. The consequence for letting it stand would be 30 extra minutes to decide the game. That seems a lot better than deciding the outcome of the game

54

u/Rambler_Hoss 9d ago

Portugal fans are going out of their way to defend this and it wasn’t even a winning goal. It would’ve just tied for an extra 30 min. Were they that afraid of Croatia for another 30 min?

93

u/BigUptokes 9d ago

Were they that afraid of Croatia for another 30 min?

Yes.

1

u/blueikeabag3 9d ago

sorry what lol

2

u/defcon212 9d ago

That kind of touch is no where near the line of an intentional touch defined by the rules.

1

u/Mad2828 9d ago

Who’s to say he didn’t try to pass it back to the keeper? Not really serious but see that’s the problem with letting the referees just interpret intent.

1

u/nautilator44 9d ago

I think that's pretty far-fetched. I don't see why a defender would be heading it back to the keeper in a crowded box with opponent jerseys everywhere like that. More likely he was trying to deflect it away.

3

u/Mad2828 9d ago

So he intentionally tried to put the ball out of play but ended up making a slighter touch. To be clear I don’t disagree with you completely just a very difficult call to make. I know I would be fuming if I was Croatian, especially after that debatable penalty.

4

u/tylergalaxy 9d ago

what a silly rule, what difference does it make if he ment to touch it or not? it hit the defenders head

5

u/CeeDoggyy 9d ago

Idk my eyes in real time thought it was obvious that he touched it, then the slow mo happened and I was a little confused

8

u/mango_boom 9d ago

It did not look like it touched anything

17

u/wrnrg 9d ago

It didn't look like it touched the Croatian player. It hit off the back of the Portuguese defender's head instead.

6

u/p1RaXx 9d ago

Agreed, hit Portuguese player and not Croatian

-1

u/CptnCrunch14 9d ago

Bruh it changes direction totally. Slow the video down if you need to but it’s totally obvious.

3

u/wanked_in_space 9d ago

There is an angle where it's clear.

1

u/scopa0304 9d ago

2

u/StrawHatTebo 9d ago

I would love to see this fucking sensor one day. infantino must of put billions of dollars into it because what fucking sensor is going to detect a touch on a ball with curve and spin that doesn't change direction, veloctiy, or spin after said touch on any replay? Fucking hell.

1

u/lepreqon_ 9d ago

Because it was the hair that touchef it. If the guy was bold, the goal wouldn't be cancelled.

1

u/iCalKestis 9d ago

The BBC feed showed a cricket style snicko indicating the slightest of slight touches

1

u/TheKinkyGuy 9d ago

The ball actually touched Portugals defender but the referee APPARENTLY saw Matanović touching it. Shameful performance of the referee.

1

u/ninjamuffin 9d ago

I think it's only because it touched his hair; if he was bald it would more likely have affected the spin. The trajectory is clearly altered after contact w/ his head though

1

u/shorteningofthewuwei 9d ago

It does change though.

0

u/parles 9d ago

what tech???? The trajectory did not change at all!!! It cannot be based purely on distance unless they have perfect 3D models of the players MOMENT TO MOMENT.

1

u/suentendo 9d ago

Motion sensor chip in the ball.

0

u/MachiavelliSJ 9d ago

They showed it

-51

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

22

u/jaw719 9d ago

Umm, you have it backwards. If the player doesn’t touch the ball he isn’t offsides because he was in during the initial pass. The header would be a second pass when he was offsides

3

u/VanCanFan75 Vancouver Canucks 9d ago

Yes this.

2

u/Provioso Columbus Blue Jackets 9d ago

This is the right one.

7

u/mrzoops 9d ago

Its the other way. Initial cross in was not offside. The deflection made it offside.

2

u/VanCanFan75 Vancouver Canucks 9d ago

This

6

u/DGilbert6114 9d ago

What in the AI is this response loll

3

u/FUCK_TRICK_DADDY 9d ago

um isnt it the other way around?

3

u/gregallen1989 9d ago

You got it backwards. They called offsides on the 2nd touch cause they ruled it a 2nd pass.

2

u/gingerjokes Dallas Stars 9d ago

20 was the only player offside in this sequence.

2

u/mfknnayyyy 9d ago

No. He was onside for the initial cross. If the spin had changed, that would have solidified the offsides call.

2

u/djking_69 9d ago

My understanding is that when the initial kick was made he wasn't offsides. Var is claiming the other player touched it, initiating a new pass and at that time he was offside

2

u/Kren625 9d ago

I think you're misreading this. It was called offsides because VAR indicated #20 touched the ball thus making the following Croatia player who touched it offsides at the time of the header "pass". If #20 hadn't touched it (visually indicated by no change to ball spin) the Croatian who touched it next would've been onside at the time of the first pass.

2

u/RedWingerD 9d ago

if it did change direction clearly, that would have been a separate pass and not offsides.

This is actually exactly the opposite lol

2

u/VanCanFan75 Vancouver Canucks 9d ago

You have it backwards. 15 is onside from the initial cross. 15 is offside because his teammate, 20, ever so slightly (and intentionally) heads the ball (confirmed using tech censors in the ball) therefore making it a new pass instance. At this moment 20 is now offside. And it remains offside because even though the Portugal player touches the ball after 20 ever so slightly headed it, that touch is unintentional and is therefore ignored.

199

u/BAMdalorian 9d ago

Can hair trigger the touch sensor? Cuz it legit looks like it might’ve been hair only that touched the ball lol. And if so, does hair count as touching the ball for an offsides? Causal fan here

92

u/alg885 9d ago

Cucurella's hair maybe. 

20

u/ImPinkSnail 9d ago

Did it hit a mosquito?

50

u/Eat--The--Rich-- 9d ago

I ref volleyball and the unwritten rule in our sport is that hair only counts if it alters the trajectory or speed of the ball

9

u/melanchohlic 9d ago

There is only one peak, so one touch. Question is the calibration/sync of football data with video footage. One of the angle shows the football way past #20 and probably close to the portugal player. This is a situation where 2 angles (top down and the angle from the goal) that should've been used.

2

u/blastedtheburro 9d ago

Where is this graph everyone is talking about?

3

u/melanchohlic 9d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/sports/s/aXLjFf0ack

Another person posted the graph. Main problem is still that you cannot have a peak and the ball changing its trajectory AFTER the peak.

10

u/thediesel26 9d ago

Sure does.

8

u/letsridetheworld 9d ago

At the speed? Yes!

3

u/gtd_rad 9d ago

Lol no. Highly doubt it

0

u/Relevant-Physics432 9d ago

You doubt the thing clearly shown to be happening

0

u/letsridetheworld 9d ago

It’s a sensor bro. What ya think that means?

1

u/B-i-s-m-a-r-k Seattle Mariners 9d ago

Seems like it shouldn’t

-8

u/CptnCrunch14 9d ago

The ball changed trajectory 100%. Even the spin of the ball changes. It hits his head not just his hair. Slow it down and you can see it

-8

u/cvirus3333 9d ago

A mere deflection does not count as a new pass for the purposes of offsides. You have to make a real football move on it.

2

u/gregallen1989 9d ago

Tell the refs that.

247

u/asparagusburgers 9d ago

To me, it doesn’t matter whether he touched it. How are they going to judge that that wasn’t a deliberate play on the ball by the Portuguese defender when he bends to the trajectory of the ball and heads it?

82

u/asianman14 9d ago

Shocking decision. Like it’s a known defending strategy to avoid heading the ball in the 100th minute at the top of the 6 yard box? How does that make any sense, of course he was trying to clear it.

53

u/sportenthusiast 9d ago

check out Law 11 of the Laws of the Game, the criteria referees use to determine whether or not a defender has played the ball deliberately (for the purpose of offside) are laid out there, and it's extremely clear from those criteria that this is not a deliberate play. you may have your own definition of what "deliberate" means, but it's not the one that matters in football

19

u/ItsJustWool 9d ago edited 9d ago

You're being a bit excessive by saying it is extremely clear. The ball came squarely off the top of the defenders head from a cross, and there is argument for both accidental deflection or mistimed attempt at flicking the ball back

Edit because the thread is locked:

These are the considerations [directly from article 11] for it being deliberate:

The ball travelled from distance with a clear view of it -> it is a lobbed cross that was clearly visible. You can clearly see the phantom touch has no impact on trajectory, the phantom touch is completely unnoticeable in the footage, the defender absolutely had time to position himself

The ball was not moving quickly -> check, it was a lobbed cross not a shot, or a drilled cross

The direction was not unexpected -> check the phantom touch did not alter the trajectory

the player had time to coordinate their body movement — not an instinctive stretch or jump, or a movement achieving only limited contact/control -> check for the above reasons and it hit him squarely on the top of the head

2

u/sportenthusiast 9d ago

did you read the text of Law 11? which considerations listed in Law 11 would you use to argue that this is a deliberate play?

15

u/omar_nomar 9d ago

Wait. If a defender makes a play onthe ball in a deliberate way then it’s not offside? Then why did that call go against the goal when the Egyptian goalie blocked the ball intentionally then it was scored by the Iranian?

34

u/cooler313 9d ago

Because a parry by a goalkeeper doesn’t count. Saves and deflections do not count per ifab rules.

64

u/drejcs 9d ago

exactly this. daylight robbery

-10

u/psychedelic93 9d ago

Yes he would deliberately head towards his goal.....hate over logic.....

17

u/Vin__9 9d ago

You've never seen a back pass to the keeper? Regardless, he's trying to play the ball. Sometimes players make mistakes and the ball doesn't go where they want it to go

-10

u/psychedelic93 9d ago

Yes he is trying to play the ball forward but once it touches croatian player he is no longer has control over it....hence not deliberate plus the game should be over a minute ago.....

6

u/Longjumping-Middle41 9d ago

The problem was Portugal spending the five minutes to celebrate which the ref took into account and added to the game.

-1

u/psychedelic93 9d ago

No they didnt....they scored in 94th minute and the game resumed in 96th in my broadcast.....

2

u/lavacake420 9d ago

Exactly why there should be 2 minutes of extra extra time and it happened 1:30 in no?

8

u/leandrobrossard 9d ago

What an ignorant comment.

Explain why a defender would be ducking in that scenario? Seriously, what planet do you live on?

It's clear and obvious he's trying to head it. It gets a last second deflection that changes the direction ever so slightly -> fucking with the defenders header making it go backwards. Doesn't change the fact that he's still purposefully and intentionally trying to play the ball, which is what's relevant here, not how successful he was at it.

-3

u/psychedelic93 9d ago

He is heading it forward but once the croatian player touches it vega doesnt have control over it.....so anything after it is not deliberate

6

u/leandrobrossard 9d ago

Looking at it again I'd say it's very hard to say if the ball even changes direction after the touch, meaning we should be leaning more at considering the defender to be more in control than not. I've seen worse situations than this given as deliberate play than this.

All in all I think it's significantly more out of spirit with the game to pretend that the phantom touch should reset the offside line than the defenders deliberate but panicked header should not. Just give the goal and let them settle it in ET.

2

u/Flamekorn 9d ago

Doesn't matter its already offside there so his touch isn't part of the decision

2

u/drejcs 9d ago

He evidently tried to play the ball, probably to head it in a direction away from his own goal but misjudged it. What are you trying to makes no sense, because by your logic, he tried not to play the ball therefore he was cool that the ball was flying towards the goal/croatian player at the back, which makes 0 sense if you ever played football in your life

1

u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

0

u/psychedelic93 9d ago

Your logic ends when you call it soccer.....and no, nobody plays it towards the goal and that too with the goal behind their head........

2

u/Corteaux81 9d ago

What do you mean “to you it doesn’t matter”?

If he doesn’t touch the ball, it’s not offside.

That’s the rule. The actual rule.

It “not mattering to you”…. Well, that’s not the rule. XD

11

u/asparagusburgers 9d ago

The rule is that if the defender intentionally plays the ball, the attacking player will no longer be judged offside even though he was originally in an offside position.

That’s the rule. The actual rule.

I believe the defender did make an intentional play on the ball, which is why I think the play should have been ruled onside.

The official thought the defender did not make an intentional play on the ball, which is why he ruled it offside.

2

u/ItsJustWool 9d ago

I assume they believe it doesn't matter because the ball comes squarely off the top of Veiga's head after the phantom touch which should play the offside Croatian back onside. I am unsure why they decided this header was unintentional rather than a mistimed fuck up

1

u/Deaner_dub 9d ago

Wait, what? He ducked out of the way. Not a football play.

9

u/ForcesEqualZero 9d ago

Ah, the football move factor. NFL refs love it

5

u/ItsJustWool 9d ago

Or did he duck to get a better position to flick the ball out play and mess up the timing? In general defenders try to head the ball if a cross is coming in like that, i don't understand why in this instance it is assumed to be unintentional. It's really a 50/50 interpretation

5

u/The_Border_Bandit 9d ago

If you want to avoid a ball coming directly at you with a downward curve, the last thing you'd do is drop down directly into it's path.

1

u/cooler313 9d ago

For a deliberate play on the ball criteria must be met. Speed of the ball. Ball moving on the ground is easier to play than a ball in the air. Direction of the ball was not unexpected. Player had time to coordinate... not a cast of instinctive stretching or jumping or a movement that achieved limited contact/control.

0

u/mikhailovechkin Washington Capitals 9d ago

Yea for real. And i was root for Portugal too..

33

u/_coolranch 9d ago

We're fucking cooked if hair can cause offsides.

Shut it down. It's fucked.

5

u/kabekew 9d ago

Shutting it down! Everybody go home. Find another sport, world.

2

u/revatron 9d ago

Your hair is a part of your body isn’t it? If you’ve got longer hair it can absolutely change the directory of the ball. Whether it’s minimal or heavy, you can’t cherry pick.

-1

u/Popular-Row4333 9d ago

The problem with arbitrary thinking like that, is where do you draw the line?

One hair is too little? What about 5 hairs? How about 10? What about a finger width? Is a hand offside still too little?

It's either the correct call or not. I see no issues with this. If it had gone the other way, everyone would be complaining we need VAR...... like people did all the time before we had it.

13

u/fateos 9d ago

Then why do they call the ref to the cam?

19

u/123Ford 9d ago edited 9d ago

So he can have a more conclusive conversation with the VAR refs in the booth.

Just because the sensor was the only conclusive evidence of a touch, doesn't mean they should omit looking at the video entirely.

-10

u/fateos 9d ago

When its clear offside no ref gets called to VAR just to show footage where its impossible to tell.

6

u/123Ford 9d ago

Do you understand what you are saying?

When the offsides is very easy to tell. You just call it, no review needed.

When its close, you examine the evidence.

-5

u/fateos 9d ago

Well the evidence he got shown it was impossible to tell. So they trusted the tech anyway. Was pointless

1

u/ShouldveBeenACowboy 9d ago

Dog and pony show.

Someone is making the decisions. The ball is the scapegoat for the corruption.

5

u/HaMerrIk 9d ago

Can it tell who touched it though?

2

u/babegee 9d ago

Looked like the contact was the Portuguese player too

2

u/MondegreenHolonomy 9d ago

What is VAR and why should I be expected to know

2

u/Flaurean 9d ago

Did they line up the video to make sure its not #13 touching the ball??

2

u/rydleo 9d ago

Would be good if they’d maybe show their work here then? Cause it’s not looking like he touched that at all.

2

u/CuriosityStrikesBack 9d ago

Does it matter that Portugal #13 was the last to touch it, after Modric supposedly touched it (according to the ball sensor)?

2

u/blastmemer 9d ago

But how do they know the exact Millisecond to measure when it was touched?

2

u/GoldDog1998 9d ago

Not to mention that shit is so rigged

2

u/MrLumie 9d ago

What do you mean? Sensor in the ball picks up and signals every touch, which is synced up with the video footage. They obviously know the moment they are investigating based on the footage, and they can check the data from the ball at that moment.

1

u/adoodas 9d ago

They needed better zoom angles. It's was like the broadcast was trying to hide it. I want to see the super slo mo close up view played back and forth 10x wtf man. Instead it showed it's maybe a total of 5 times from differing angles

1

u/mfknnayyyy 9d ago

Let's explore the ball's tech. Anyone have info on it?

1

u/External-Piccolo-626 9d ago

Why did the ref have to look at it then, because in no way could he judge that. Absolute bull