Was it an offside goal?
I thought I was offside for winning goal - Iniesta
BARCELONA, Spain, July 13 (Reuters) - Spain’s Andres Iniesta thought he was offside when he collected the ball and scored the winning goal in the World Cup final, the midfielder said on Tuesday.
“I was only waiting for the pass from Cesc Fabregas and he delivered in a perfect way. He was very quick and for a moment I was alone and I really thought I was offside but I controlled it well and when I hit the ball I knew it had to go in,” Iniesta told a news conference.
The extra-time strike on Sunday was the only goal in a bad-tempered final against the Netherlands and secured Spain’s first World Cup victory.
Iniesta was asked how he felt afterwards.
“It is difficult to explain,” he said. “I can only say that I feel very happy. Very happy…playing my football and doing my job and scoring such an important goal for all.
“To be able to make millions of people happy is something priceless. This is what gratifies my job—to be able to make so many people happy who follow us and suffer with the team. People’s happiness has no price.”
The Barcelona player went to South Africa after a difficult season plagued with injuries.
“It was a difficult season and that’s it. But then came the World Cup and I got into it with a lot of desire and ambition. I was hoping that everything finished well and despite losing the first match (1-0 to Switzerland) we came back from that, the team recovered well and everything ended as we know.” (Writing by Clare Fallon in London; Editing by Ed Osmond; To query or comment on this story email [email protected])
but he wasnt offside even if he said he 'thought' he was... and it clearly is not offside.
WC is over. Get over it. Save the discussion for the next WC.
DeAtHcLuTcH is right :-(
@cherukkan: You just said, you play football and you know the rules... Y don't you take a look at the replay and decide it for yourself... What do you think it was?
Iniesta said he thot it was offffside....not that he was offfside!!!....when a player is unmarked he tends to think that way.......n he was standing still when fabregas passed him,n there was a defender trying to block fabregas's shot(incase he had shot),a lil yards away n ahead of iniesta...so definitely its not offside....in the above shot,both r 2gthr.......n the defender moves back.....the only thing was that ,he made a handball i gesss,just 4 5 mins back from this mmoment,but d ref dint see...n that was it,m a Spain fan :).....maybe there wudve beeen different teams in semis n quarters if all the ref decisions made were right lol :P,but spain played Welll all thruout
Being a Dutch fan I've been shying away from my friends who were all supporting Spain
But now atleast I have something to whine about
I dont think that I mentioned he agreed. If I am a Netherlands Fan I would have told that it was an offside goal but I am not. He (Iniesta) would have agreed if the lines referee had raised the flag.
I take back what I said
When Fabregas supplied the ball to Iniesta, he was definitely onside
But before that, when Torres tried to pass the ball to Iniesta and it was intercepted by a Dutch defender, it was a very close call but the linesman was at the right line and I still think he was marginally onside
But now I see why the Dutch were so worked up about it!
this screen shot shows the exact moment I was talking about
mind you the last dutch defender was moving backwards and Iniesta was moving forward and this shot is just a trace after Torres kicked the balls so to me it is still onside
And BTW, I supported the Dutch so I am being neutral here
By verisimilitude at 2010-07-15
He said he "thought"... it don't mean he actually was!
EXL, I used to play football in the school/colleges and I have been watching the world cup matches and most of Premier League matches on TV for a long time. I do have some idea about the rules and regulations of a football match.
I am telling again that the doubt of offside goal is not my invention but it is what Iniesta, the Spanish Player who scored the goal told to the International Media.
He wasn't offside, there was a Dutch defender ahead of him. He was unmarked, is probably why he thought he was offside considering the space he had.
EXLegend and Veerisimilitude, I dont want you all to agree with my perspective. You have your point of view and outlook but dont forget that you are not the only one watched the match again and again. A Spanish fan will see the match in their favour.
Further more it is not my invention but it is what Iniesta told to the media.
i supported Holland... :) but the goal was not offside if you knew the rules of the games you should agree.
there was a Dutch defender on the ground atleast a couple of yards ahead of him
well it was not offside ... even if he thought so like many others... i have watched the replay about 4 times :)
its not.
Soniya, It is not for taking back world cup back from Spain. There are millions of football lovers who was thinking that it was an offside goal and was cursing that referee who was blowing his whistle for everything (in my perspective he is the one who spoiled the match). I am not a fan of Netherlands who were playing rough match in the final but if the referees are also playing the match then there is no match. Now I saw this news in many online newspapers/dailies and just copied and pasted it and I was thinking of Maradona's goal. He lost many of his fans when he confessed the hand of God.
cheru, nothing can be done now..Let him to say whatever he wanna say...Fact is SPAIN has won the world cup...
Me too! I thought it was offside!