5 players who were too smart for the offside trap
Germany play the perfect offside trap to deny Higuain in the 2014 World Cup finalThe offside law is probably the most discussed aspect of the modern game. First introduced by the Football Association in 1863, the laws were quite simple but had a lot of flaws in them. The gradual process of tweaking them took place over the next 142 years and finally in 2005, they were formulated properly.Although many people experience difficulty in understanding the offside law, and feel that it was designed to prevent football from producing too many goals or being too much fun, it could, in fact, be the best thing that has ever happened to football. The current offside law enables players to show off their talent, with there being more emphasis on technique rather than physique these days.
#1 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi was at his imperious best in a Champions League group stage match against APOEL Nicosia, with Barcelona winning 0-4. He cracked a blistering hat-trick following Luis Suarez’s opener, but it was his third and Barcelona’s final goal that took all the plaudits.
In typical Barcelona style, the players maintained possession and forced the opposition defenders to drop deep into their own half. Javier Mascherano marauded into the box and lobbed the ball to Xavi, who returned the pass after a few seconds of nifty footwork.
The resulting pass from the Argentinian was destined to reach his compatriot Messi who was offside at the time, but the diminutive forward casually let the ball go past him, allowing Pedro to run onto the ball and cut it back for an easy tap-in.
Messi’s off-the-ball movement was key to the successful execution of the goal. His positioning distracted all the APOEL defenders, who were left completely bamboozled after he ignored the pass that was meant for him. Since Messi didn't get a touch of the ball when he was in the offside position, the goal was allowed to stand.