Well, the ball flew up in the air, coming down towards me. I chest trapped it, dead center on my chest, and I heard the ref's stupid whistle blow. He gave the other team a kick (what's the diff between direct and indirect?) and thery eventually found the back of the net. 2-2 Was the ref right, or does chest trapping count as handball somehow? On another note, I sprinted to this attacker, coming from his right. I slid tackled, clearly making contact with the ball, and the attacker tripped over me, flying a few feet forward. Another free kick. Was it because I slid tackled the guy, or was it because he got hurt? Thanks
no, chest trapping does not count as a handball, ... unless of course the ref thought that the ball hit your arm in which case there's nothing you can do about it. it's frustrating, but that must have been how he saw it. (by the way, if he called a handball, it should have been a direct free kick - meaning that they can score by kicking it directly into the goal - as opposed to an indirect free kick which requires the ball to be touched by a second player before it goes into the goal). as for the slide tackle, it's really hard to comment without seeing it. it's not as simple as "did you touch the ball first?" if you don't touch the ball first, you'll definitely get called, but even if you do touch the ball first, it can still be a foul. did you raise your leg up to trip the other player after you got the ball? was your cleat up creating a dangerous play? or any other number of scenarios. the ref obviously saw something, so i can't tell you whether it was a good call or a bad call.
thanks for your reply! Well, yes, the attacker did trip over me after I made contact with the ball, is that legal?
foul recognition on a slide tackle As Blech mentioned without actually seeing it we can only assume. The contact with the ball must be in such as way as not to recklessly endanger the opponent. An example might be a slide where you come up underneath and behind the legs at 20 miles an hour or you sweep the other leg and scissor the attackers legs AFTER you get the ball. If you keep a single leg outstretched, cleats unexposed and the other leg bent back behind you and a player falls over your leg this is NOT the same as if you tripped him and is a legal challenge. I find it difficult to explain in words but a fair challenge that strips the ball away and only has contact AFTER this is so is not exempt from being a foul. or misconduct. However if you excercise restraint in the follow through and limit the extra use of the legs, body or arms in additional manuvers to cause him to fall or be injured there is no foul or misconduct to be called. A certain amount of physical play is part of the game however foul recognition by a referee is a match condition that you simply accept as do you the rain, wind, sun or pitch surface.
Let me also add that I will always call a foul if the player has to go through the players leg to get to the ball. For example if a player is dribbling with his left foot and you come in from his right side and make a slide tackle even if contact with the ball is first but you knock the player down it's a foul. Your attempt at the slide tackle prevented him from continuing to play the ball. I agree that foul calls are a you had to see it. But, I for one do not buy into the argument that if you got ball first and then brought the player down that it's not a foul. Timing is everything. If it's a bang bang play it will usually be a foul. If you can play the ball cleanly away and through clumsiness the player falls it not a foul. I know it must sound contradictory, but I hope it helps.
I have one question about this and I may be misinterpreting you. Are you saying that a player who comes in from the side and gets his foot cleanly on the ball driving it through the player and causing the player formly in possion to trip over the ball has still committed a foul? I always thought as long as the contact is only with the ball that it is clean. Depending on the situation, I can see a case for a foul on a tackle that goes ball then body, but the first case seems clean to me.