Ok, yes, this has to do with the call from last night against Canada, but I don't want the answer to that specific question (it gets WAY too convoluted) I just want to know, for knowledges sake, what the rule is. Ok, so, Forgetting EVERYTHING else about the situation, what is the rule in regards to offside and the last touch being from an opposing player? I know you can still be offside if a pass is merely deflected off of a defender to a player who was in an offside position on the last touch from his side. I know (or think I know) you cannot be offside if the ball is controlled by the defenders, and they lose it (be it from a poor pass or whatever). The question is, where is the line? Does the defender have to have possession first? What about a one touch pass? If a defender tries to head the ball to his team, is this different from kicking it (as it is with back passes to the GK)? Does the intent matter, or just the result? If a defender tries to head (or kick) the ball to his teamate off of an opposing last touch, how bad does his aim have to be to be considered a "deflection" and not a "play"? Oh, and as a second question, if team A passes it from player 1 to player 3, while player 3 is onside, if it hits player 2 (from team A as well) inadvertantly (as in, player two is running and doesn't even see the ball coming) while player 3 IS offside, is this an offside call? (as in, is player 2 now counted as the last touch even though it was a deflection). I don't expect answers to each of my individual questions, those were just to clarify my overreaching question.
Defensive touch - In The Opinion Of The Referee whether it constitutes control to reset offside. Offensive touch - Every touch creates a new offside "snapshot" - any teammate in an offside position at the time of the last touch cannot particpate. It doesn't matter whether that touch is deliberate or accidental, control or deflection. Law 11 says "touched or played".
A player in offside position at the moment the ball is touched by his teammate remains in offside position regardless of what that player does until: (a) the ball is again touched by a teammate; (b) the ball is intentionally played by defense; or (c) the ball goes out of play. A deflection off a teammate will cause a recalculation of who is in an onside or offside position; a deflection off an opponent will not.
First and foremost...everything I will discuss here is based upon the six most powerful words in the LOTG...In The Opinion Of The Referee...which is the baseline for every decision-making process in every match...be it a WC Final or your 13 year old's second select match ever. There is an easy way to tell the difference between the "deflection" and a "deliberate play" which is to determine the intention of the defender. Aim or success in directing the ball exactly where he wants it to go does not play into this decision...the question is whether the defender deliberately played the ball (anywhere to anyone) or if the ball simply bounced off of him. I know that this explanation might sound a bit condescending and I'm really NOT trying to do that but just give an answer in as few words as possible. I faced a similar situation in a HS match recently...as AR I was standing at midfield as my 2LD was in the attacking half...watching the last attacker straggle back to onside position...and the defense was passing the ball around in their attacking half looking for an opening. All of a sudden the left fullback turned and made a nice pass on the ground back to his sweeper...except that the sweeper was the other team's center forward. I think the attacker was even more surprised than I was and it took every bit of physical strength for me to keep my flag down as I KNEW that it couldn't be offside even though every other bit of information told me it had to be. It looked like the Freddie Brown pass to Worthy in the 1982 NCAA Championship game transferred to a soccer pitch. But I managed to keep my flag down, the attacker went in and scored, and I was almost equally surprised that I didn't hear a peep of dissent from the players, coaches or...most surprisingly...the spectators. Maybe not the best comparison to the USA/CAN Gold Cup play but a textbook quiz on the "last played by a defender" question. As to your question of whether the USA/CAN play was a play or a deflection...put yourself in the referee's shoes and tell me what you think. As you can probably tell from the threads here, even referees disagree with each other but as long as everybody sees it as professional development to help everybody improve together, we're really all still on the same page. Please remember that the AR on that play was the ONLY person (excepting the spectators in the rows behind him who were watching the ball anyway and therefore cannot give a true opinion) who was in the proper position to make that call.
I disagree with your b). Onyewu intentionally played the ball, but he did not control the ball. To reset offside, the defender needs to control the ball without interference from offside players I don't think the AR was in the best position. It was probably the spectators 20 rows up and directly behind him, who could see both the 2LD, all three forward attackers, Onyewu, and the attacker as he played the ball forward. I think the AR had a difficult angle and too many players to watch and too many bodies screening each other! He was probably in the best reasonable position, but sometimes you can't see everything when you're on the touchline.
So true...just this Sunday night I was on the line for a Latino semi-final that the attacking team had a one goal deficit they were trying to overcome in the final minutes and pushing as many guys forward as possible...looking over/around the attacking players (one or two right in front of me) to see the 2LD in the center of the field or on the other side really challenged me...plus the defending team ran a pretty good trap. In that situation, being elevated a few feet above the fray would have really helped me out but I forgot to bring my Shaq extension legs with me.