Infamous Law 11 of the 17 Laws
of the Game of football is more
commonly known as the “offside rule,” and can often determine the
outcome of a tense goal situation. While many longtime fans explain the
rule by saying “you know it when you see it,” we are
willing to give it a stab. Roughly, an offside is called when a player
of the attacking team is involved in active play while being in an
offside position. “Offside position” meaning they are closer to
the
opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second to last player
on the defending team (including the goalie). The result is a free
kick for the other team. If the player is just standing around in an offside position and not even blocking the other team's view, he's all good, though. Or, if he's hanging out in an offside position and suddenly gets to play a ball he got directly from a goal kick, a throw-in, or a corner kick, he's fine too.
This little rule has given a lot of headaches to referees, coaches,
players, and, last but not least, the fans. The upside is that if
your team loses, you can usually blame an “unjust” offside call for
the defeat. This allows you to swallow the loss while showing as
little respect to your opponent as possible. Ah, football truly is the
beautiful game!
If you still feel uneasy about when to shout “offside!” at the bar,
that's totally okay. Go to the FIFA web page and watch their interactive
guide to Offside Law 11, which explains the rule slowly in 37
steps, supported by the soothing voice of a British commentator. And if you still need more, check out Wikipedia's explanation.
The Groupings for the First Round
For the first round of the World Cup, 32 teams are split into 8 groups of 4. Each team will play the other three teams in its group between June 9 and June 23. A point system will determine the two top teams from each group, and they will move on to the elimination Round of 16.
Now that you've got some background knowledge, you probably want to hit the pub and talk the language of football with your fellow fans. A few more terms you might want to get to know include “goal kick,” “throw-in,” “cross,” “yellow card,” and “stoppage time.”
Here's a little guide we found on the internet.
The Ranking
We asked you to submit your predictions for the final of the World Cup, but how are you supposed to give a solid prediction if you haven't really been following football so far? So, here's the official FIFA ranking of the participating teams. If you are curious about the complete list, or would like some more information about the specific teams, visit this FIFA page.
Rank
Team
Rank
Team
1
Brazil
23
Croatia
2
Czech Republic
26
Costa Rica
3
Netherlands
29
Poland
4
Mexico
29
Republic of Korea
5
USA
32
Côte d'Ivoire
5
Spain
33
Paraguay
7
Portugal
34
Saudi Arabia
8
France
35
Switzerland
9
Argentina
39
Ecuador
10
England
42
Australia
13
Italy
44
Serbia and Montenegro
16
Sweden
45
Ukraine
18
Japan
47
Trinidad and Tobago
19
Germany
48
Ghana
21
Tunisia
57
Angola
23
Iran
61
Togo
Can't Get Enough?
In case you still think you need to know more, check out these fine links for further enjoyment of the World Cup realm.
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