What is the call? Keeper had ball under control, took a couple of quick steps racing forward from the goal line, where he made the save, toward the top of the penalty box, and the ball slipped out of his hands. He pounced on the ball quickly, and completed his clearance. I made no call in this situation. This keeper usually makes that run, but this ball slipping form his grasp was unusual. This was very clearly unintentional, so I wasn't sure if this sould be called as a droped ball or not. And not that it matters, but this is a U12 league. Did I make the correct (non) call.
I guess it would depend on whether any attacker was nearby and could have challenged for the ball. If the keeper is all alone and everyone else has cleared out of the area, then yes, it's a no-call.
Saw something like this happen in Serie A recently. The keeper snared the ball and took a couple of running steps to the edge of the box, where just as he was about to punt the ball, it slipped out of his hands. He picked it up on one bounce and kicked it anyway, but the play was whistled back with an indirect kick for the other team.
Sounds a bit nitpicky to penalize a goalkeeper for this. If he didnt mean to do it........what advantage under the current laws did he gain by accidentaly dropping the ball that would justify an IFK in the penalty area? If the ball wasnt wet, he could have just run to the edge of the penalty area anyway.
I'd be more forgiving in a U12 game, so in this situation I would have let the play go. In HS age or higher, though, I would have made a determination of whether the keeper had control. Did he have full control of the ball? Was the ball slipping pretty much right from the time he made the save? Another thing to consider is how far away the ball got from the keeper. If the ball slipped away and the keeper immediately grabbed the ball, you can treat that pretty much the same as you'd treat the kipper bouncing the ball off the ground a couple of times before punting it. But if the keeper played the ball with his feet, it's a definite whistle at any age level if he picks it up again.
Particularly at this age and younger, if the player did not deliberately release the ball back into play then I see no reason to penalize the recovery. He gained no advantage, didn't try to waste time, didn't engage in trickery, or otherwise offend the spirit of the game. To me it is similar to when a wet ball slips from the player's hands and falls to the ground behind him while attempting a throw-in. Pick it up and try again .... let's just get the ball back into play without further embarassment.
Guys, what impact does this have on the game? Is it really such a grave error against the game that the other team must gain an indirect free kick to restore fairness? Remember why we're out there. If a ball accidently slips out of the keepers hands it's no big deal. The purpose of the law is to prevent the keeper from circumventing the 6-second rule, not to demand perfection at all times.
pk - That was along the lines I was thinking. Specially since this kid also put up a Oliver Kahn -esqe performance versus the by far best team in the league (he made on mistake...you know the rest).
Good non call, I agree with the sentiment that it was not the infraction that the second touch situation refers too. No drop ball senario that I can see as plausable. Not sure about waiting another 6 seconds I would expect an immediate clearance. AvidSinger's point about using the feet to control the ball and then pick it up is well founded. Mistakes are made under pressure slip or not a keeper could be resticted in what we can consider trifling on such a call. Hiaving said that if there was an opponent nearby and they raced to kick it. I could see the INDFK call given if it prevented an opportunity to play the ball.
No problem My problem with penalizing this errant slip is we have no problem allowing the keeper to intentionally bounce the ball, but a slip we penalize? Hardly seems fair. I think this was a good non-call.
Overwhelming sentiment, I made the correct decision. Thanks all. I do remember thinking as the keeper re-gathered up the ball how much injustice it would do to the game as a whole (as it was well played and I only called 2 or 3 penal fouls, and one offside the entire game), not just the keeper.
Re: No problem I agree that it was a good non-call (at this age and given the situation described), but I don't agree with your comparison of the slip to intentionally bouncing the ball. The ATR clearly spells out that while bouncing the ball, the keeper is still considered to be in "control" of the ball. If he loses control, then he is not allowed to play it with his hands again. For example, if when he bounces it, it hits a rough spot on the ground and goes careening off 4-5 yards, then he no longer has control and if he picked it back up, I'd whistle this as a second touch.