All the talk last week was about THAT goal.
I'm sure there can be no one left in the country who hasn't seen it. Apart from the game being live on terrestrial television, it has been shown on news and sports programmes on all channels. However, just in case you are wondering what I am talking about, then let me describe what happened.
Manchester United at home to West Ham in the
FA Cup. Di Canio of West Ham receives the ball on the edge of the United penalty area. The arms go up for offside (as always) and United's French goalkeeper Barthez with Di Canio bearing down on him, stands with his arm raised as if to say 'don't go on, you are offside'. But there has been no flag, no whistle and Di Canio kicks the ball into the back of the net. Only goal of the game.
It's no wonder it caught the imagination of the nation for there are so many points to talk about. The major question (except for Gary Neville) is not whether Di Canio was offside for the television seemed to indicate that he was not. The main debate is whether Barthez thought that Di Canio was offside or was it a deliberate act of gamesmanship to make his opponent think he was and so not try to score?
Several prominent people in the game have come down in favour of a 'con' by Barthez. Gary Lineker said for instance 'It was a clever and deliberate ploy'. One person who seemed to agree was the United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Alex however dismissed the suggestion that it was not in the spirit of the game. 'It was worth a try.' he said, 'He tried to un-nerve Di Canio and put him off his train of thought. I have seen it before where a player is through on goal and has turned round and looked at the linesman.'
Players are sometimes cautioned for carrying on and 'scoring' after the whistle has gone, 'I never heard the whistle' they always plead, so it is something that might have passed through Di Canio's mind.
Fortunately for all, except Manchester United, but including the referee and the good of the game, Di Canio slotted it past Barthez. Imagine if Di Canio had stopped and perhaps allowed Barthez to pick up the ball, is there anything that the referee could or should have done about it?
There are two problems for the referee as far as I can see. First he would have to resort to a little mind reading. Was the goalkeeper aware that no offside decision had been made and tried to psyche his opponent into believing he was
offside? Or was he under the impression that offside had been given?
Then, if he is convinced that it was an deliberate ploy as Gary Lineker suggested, what action, if any, should he take? Is gamesmanship an offence within the laws of football; is it the same as cheating?
Older readers may remember Stephen Potter's book 'One-upmanship'. The author called gamesmanship, 'getting one up on your competitors without actually cheating'. Was it any different from the kidology that happens at some free kicks near goal?
There is only one person who can tell us if Barthez was using gamesmanship or not and that is Barthez himself. He doesn't seem to be talking, perhaps fearing that he would incriminate himself. Gary Neville, on the other hand, has been reported for abusive language towards the referee and his assistant. It would have been better for all concerned if he had saved his strong words for his own goalkeeper.
Barthez, whatever he was trying to do, should have remembered what every schoolboy footballer is
taught:
Always play to the whistle.
Dick Sawdon Smith