“Offsides”? Nobody can be “offsides”

The Club World Cup has been going well so far, thank you, despite the tremendous heat in the United States and if we overlook the fact that FIFA was forced to reduce ticket prices to get more people into the stadiums.

The performance of the Brazilian clubs has so far caused a certain amount of astonishment among the American and European press. When I mention the American press, I must point out that news in print newspapers is much less common than in online editions, but still…

To explain why Brazilian clubs have been doing well so far, American and European newspapers tend to say it is because the Europeans are at the end of their season and therefore tired. This argument is far from valid, because we could just as easily flip it on its head and say: “Well, under the old Club World Cup format played on the other side of the world, like in Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc., it was the Brazilians who were at the end of their season.” It was common for a Brazilian club to have to play both in the Final of the National Championship and the Libertadores Cup within a single week and then immediately travel in a rush, with exhausted players…

Another interesting point is that the American media insist on saying “soccer” while the rest of the world says “football.” In fact, the terms are synonymous, because “soccer” is a slang form, in English, derived from “association.” The official name of the game, even today, is “association football,” to distinguish it from the other game, “rugby football,” which is the predecessor of “American football.”

What I find even more curious is the huge number of Americans who play “soccer”, watch “soccer” matches — and even commentate and write about “soccer” — who insist on saying that so-and-so is “offsides.”

This seems to be an expression taken from ice hockey, but it is flagrantly incorrect. FIFA’s Law 11 is clear. It specifically uses the word “offside” and explains what it means: either you are on the near side of a line parallel to the goal line and thus “onside,” or you are on the far side and thus “offside.”

No one can be on both sides at once — or off both sides.