Saturday, August 11, 2007

The referee is always right

The referee has the whistle, and therefore is right. That doesn't mean that he or she will see everything. In the video (20 seconds), the offender steals the ball, is fouled, but no whistle is heard. The offender then retaliates, which is called. This is a very unfortunate loss of patience, since the location of the foul is very dangerous for the defense --►the defense was LOL happy to be fouled there and get a free kick.

Better soccer is to keep the pressure on the defender and win the ball back correctly, though everyone understands the frustration of the offender. Resisting retaliation gets you what you actually want anyway: the ball, in great position, ready to score.

If you are wondering about the "I want to send a message that I'm tough" argument to explain the retaliation, no. Being scored on is really the only message defenders bow down to. So, get the ball back, and score.

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