Sunday, March 16, 2008

Fair play?


Here it is (though it's not great quality), that first goal of Haiti versus Canada that Canadian coach Nick Dasovic was so unhappy with.

I know a lot of our readers have played soccer, and I'm curious as to what their definition of "fair play" is. Would you have kicked the ball back to Canada if you were playing them? If you were Canada, would you have assumed that you'd get the ball back, or be on your guard just in case? What's the value of following the unwritten laws of soccer if the other team breaks them?

Share thoughts in the comments section.

Oh, and by the way, does anyone agree with Nick's characterization of his countrymen as "nice, naive Canadians"?

3 comments:

Dan Haug said...

It's easy to say you should always be ready for anything in a match... But in that situation, the Canadian left back clearly kicked the ball out of bounds right by his own penalty box. The Haitians clearly should have given the ball back to Canada (probably thrown it over the endline to give them a goal kick).

If I were Canada I'd be pissed too.

Didn't something like this happen in an FA cup match in England a few years back, and they replayed the match? I think the situation was a little different, but somewhat similar.

Anonymous said...

who's to say the ref signaled for anything or if the haitians even knew the situation? the injured player was already on the field when play started canada shouldve been aware of any haitian response and not just assume they'll play it back. the canadian defenders were just standing around. you cant do that!(its like in boxing, under no circumstances do you turn your back on a boxer - even if he elbowed you - he could knock you out!)

bottom line: we all know what happens when you assume.

Anonymous said...

the 'proper' thing would have been for Haiti to play it back to Canada. However, until its a written rule and not a 'courtesy' rule things like this can happen. You should always stay prepared.

When I was playing they would always tell us to kick it out further up field as well if you are that deep in your half to give you time to counteract this sort of chicanery.