Germany against the Netherlands: Why Leweling’s early 1-0 didn’t count – Sport

Referee Slavko Vincic examined the scene for almost three minutes, and in the end national coach Julian Nagelsmann said it was a wrong decision – but what actually happened before Jamie Leweling‘s goal was ultimately disallowed after 100 seconds?

When Joshua Kimmich passes, Serge Gnabry is just offside, but the Dutchman Jorrel Hato intercepts the pass, the ball goes to Micky van de Ven, Gnabry takes the ball from him and puts it on Leweling for a shot on goal.

It used to be the case that an offside position was canceled when the ball came from the opponent. However, the rule was changed because a striker’s clear offside position due to a slightly deflected pass suddenly becomes unpunished. Until 2022 it was said that offside was only canceled if a defender played the ball “intentionally”. From 2022 onwards the adjective was changed to “controlled”.

The reason for the change was a scene in the 2021 Nations League final, when France’s Kylian Mbappé scored a goal from an offside position. The Spaniard Eric García deflected the pass to Mbappé with a tackle. The tackle was certainly intentional, but since he didn’t control the ball, Mbappé continued to benefit from his offside position. Because the basic idea is: the player who is offside commits a violation of the rules and gains an advantage, and there must be major mitigating circumstances so that the advantage no longer applies and the original “crime” is annulled.

The phenomenon became known in Germany through the then Paderborn coach Steffen Baumgart, who gave an angry speech after a 2021 DFB Cup game in Dortmund because he saw himself at a disadvantage due to the old regulation. There was also the case of Union Berlin player Aïssa Laïdouni, who tried to play an arc lamp with his heel. The ball bounced from his heel to then Leipzig player Timo Werner, who came offside. Leipzig’s goal was subsequently disallowed, and a heated discussion ensued over the fact that Laïdouni was obviously rewarded by the interpretation of the rules for his inability to control the ball.

So the question for Vincic on the video screen was: Did Hato and van de Ven check Kimmich’s pass? If you look at the scene again, there is a lot to be said for it. Not only do two opposing players get to the ball at the same time, Hato plays the ball specifically to van de Ven so that he can also receive it. Only then does Gnabry intervene. For national coach Nagelsmann it was the wrong decision to take the goal back, and ZDF referee expert Manuel Gräfe also came to this conclusion. Gräfe suspected that the VAR gave Vincic the wrong images. In fact, Hato’s pass is clearer from the behind-the-goal perspective than from the side view. Perhaps that was the reason for the long review, the Slovenian did not comment later. Presumably also because the decision ultimately did not influence the outcome of the game.