I know there's already one thread on this topic, but I have a different question. Isn't it at least an automatic yellow any time the keeper handles the ball outside the PA? I was under the impression that it fell under the intentional hand-ball rule. I was wondering if the ref just felt sorry for Brown since the lines are so F-ed up, or if I have things wrong.
Well, first of all, it has to be intentional to even be whistled as handling. If a keeper just accidentally strays outside the area holding the ball, I don't think many, if any, refs would caution for that -- particularly on a field with extra lines. I've actually seen it twice in the last month -- the Revs / Fire game being discussed as well as a Portland Timbers / Seattle Sounders match also being played on a football field. In that case, the keeper went running out to a line, looked down and realized he'd gone to the wrong line which was 3 yards past the 18 and tried to scoot back inside the area. Now, if a keeper was coming out charging to play a ball and realized that the ball wasn't going to get into the area in order for him to play it before the onrushing attacker got to the ball and wound up playing it with his hands outside the area, that's a different situation. You could easily argue a yellow and some might argue that a red would be fair.
To caution for a handling offence, the foul has to be tactical in nature somehow. Most likely, it has to deny his opponent's a chance at possession of the ball. Since Brown was legally holding the ball in his hand up until the point he crossed the line, the Fire had no legitimate shot at possessing the ball. The 'foul' was not tactical, it was just accidental. There really can be no reason to justify a caution. Now, if Brown had grabbed the ball just outside the box as forwards were attacking, a caution could be warranted (or a send off if no defenders are back with him). There is a play in between this that happened to Keller in a USMNT a few years ago. He came charging to the top of the area to play the ball with his hands, and his momentum carried him outside the area. Since it would have been a breakaway, the ref (who was coming from upfield) showed him a red card for stopping a goal-scoring opportunity. If I remember correctly though, the AR called the CR over and explained that he had first touched the ball inside the area (legally) and that momentum carried him outside. It's the only time I've ever seen a red card rescinded at such a high level.
Classic refereeing moment MassRef...as I remember, Keller collected the ball and his momentum took him to the top of the box. It appeared that he tried to keep his balance at the 18 and when he realized he couldn't hold his balance, he got rid of hte ball. I believe that the AR probably told the CR that Keller did everything he possibly could to get rid of the ball and the red was changed to a yellow. Scott