I’ve just watched the best match of Euro 2004 so far. I was blown away by the excitement of this game, with dozens of shots on goal it was an open game of the type you never see anymore in national games. Teams usually play a far more controlled game nowadays in order to avoid defeat rather than a full expressive game where they push the play at their opponents and drive towards goal.
It wasn’t without controversy though as there was a dubious sending off, incidents when penalties should have been given but weren’t a goal that was allowed through a technicality. The second Dutch goal is a clear example of why the modern offside rule is utterly insane. It has been changed from an objective decision dependent on the relative positions of players to a subjective one where the player is considered offside only if they are gaining an advantage from their position.
Tags: sport
