# USA vs. Canada Soccer...6 seconds by goalie: BS Call?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [August 7, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691 "2012-08-07T03:07:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/1 "2012-08-07T03:07:09Z")
Not the handball call, the “holding the ball for more than 6 seconds” by the CDN goalie. WTH?
I got to FIFA white badge level and would never have called that.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/2 "2012-08-07T03:38:52Z")
Moved to the Game Room.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/3 "2012-08-07T03:46:56Z")
Apparently she had been warned before. It’d have to be pretty damn egregious though to call it, IMO.
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### Author:  [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/4 "2012-08-07T03:49:55Z")
For a while this afternoon most of Canada cared about women’s soccer. I think the reffing was questionable to put it mildly, but I don’t pretend to know enough about soccer to put forward any cogent arguments. So I put out a congrats to the Canadian Women’s soccer team and would argue that today did more for the sport in Canada than anything else in recent memory.
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### Author:  [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/5 "2012-08-07T03:58:28Z")
> [@phxjcc](#):
>
> Not the handball call, the “holding the ball for more than 6 seconds” by the CDN goalie. WTH?
>
> I got to FIFA white badge level and would never have called that.
How many seconds would someone need to hold the ball for you to call a penalty?
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### Author:  [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/6 "2012-08-07T04:56:46Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#):
>
> How many seconds would someone need to hold the ball for you to call a penalty?
I always ref’d in a way to make sure that one team was not getting an **advantage** as long as they were not in violation of one of the **laws of the game**. There is no such thing as a “six second law”. Yes you can caution about delay of game, and even card players if it gets egregious. The proper restart on a caution is an IDFK.
To me, if the ruling in the ref’s decision was that a caution was due, and a turnover was also due, then the proper procedure is an IDFK–and indirect free kick Which means that USA could have kicked the ball into the goal, but not scored without another player touching the ball before it entered the goal, or the goal would have been disallowed.
So, I have two objections:
1. Delay of game for “six seconds” is specious, there is NO SUCH LAW
2. Why was it not an IDFK?
Any other ref’s out there?
But, you wanted a number–ok, I’ll bite: 15 sec’s.
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### Author:  [@Jorge\_Burrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge_Burrito)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/7 "2012-08-07T05:06:30Z")
> [@phxjcc](#):
>
> To me, if the ruling in the ref’s decision was that a caution was due, and a turnover was also due, then the proper procedure is an IDFK–and indirect free kick Which means that USA could have kicked the ball into the goal, but not scored without another player touching the ball before it entered the goal, or the goal would have been disallowed.
>
> So, I have two objections:
>
> 1. Delay of game for “six seconds” is specious, there is NO SUCH LAW
> 2. Why was it not an IDFK?
According to ESPN it was an IDFK.
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### Author:  [@Jorge\_Burrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge_Burrito)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/8 "2012-08-07T05:14:34Z")
There is a 6 second rule as well on the books, even if it doesn’t get enforced often. Pg 33
[http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/81/42/36/lawsofthegame\_2010\_11\_e.pdf](http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/81/42/36/lawsofthegame_2010_11_e.pdf)
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### Author:  [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/9 "2012-08-07T07:13:34Z")
> [@Jorge\_Burrito](#):
>
> According to ESPN it was an IDFK.
ESPN are not wrong. From the indirect free kick, a Canadian player handled the ball - hence the penalty.
Don’t know about the law - don’t know about the application of any such law - but as a neutral, this seems to be a time to actually do something about it. Canada are 3-2 up in an Olympic semi final with the clock ticking down. If the goalie holds the ball in their hands for ages, they are taking time out of the game, that the other team needs to be able to equalise, and there is nothing that the opposition can do about it (as they can’t kick the ball out of her hands or such). On its face, it seems reasonable. On the other hand, I’ve never seen such a decision given in over 20 years of watching football in the UK, so it’s definitely unusual.
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### Author:  [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/10 "2012-08-07T08:10:27Z")
Saw that last night and have to say that the Canadian keeper was an idiot seeing as she had already been warned.
The law isn’t usually needed as a warning is enough but I’ve certainly seen it given in similar circumstances (when teams are seeking to deliberately waste time and they are in the winning position)
As for the penalty? again, I’ve seen similar plenty of times. The ball looked like it was going goalwards and she stopped it clearly with her hand. She turned away from the ball when she knew it was going to hit her. That’s why it is always best to watch the ball all the way, you stand a better chance of getting a different part of you body in for the block.
You could say the penalty was to a degree unlucky as it was a 50/50 decision but I don’t think the free kick was anything other than stupidity.
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/11 "2012-08-07T09:59:28Z")
Stalling is getting to be as bad as diving in soccer. Good for you if you have the lead, now play the game instead of trying to burn time by standing there and acting like you don’t know what to do, like you’ve never seen the thing in your hands before.
I’ve long thought that they should make that call more often. If she was in fact warned about it before, that’s her own fault.
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### Author:  [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/12 "2012-08-07T10:11:14Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#):
>
> Stalling is getting to be as bad as diving in soccer. Good for you if you have the lead, now play the game instead of trying to burn time by standing there and acting like you don’t know what to do, like you’ve never seen the thing in your hands before.
>
> I’ve long thought that they should make that call more often. If she was in fact warned about it before, that’s her own fault.
They actually changed the rules back in, ooh, the nineties (I think) precisely because of this. There was a time when you could pass to the keeper and the keeper could pick the ball up. Unfortunately late 80s football seemed to contain a LOT of passing between defenders and the keeper towards the end of the game, effectively killing the game. Believe me, it was very, very boring to watch.
And so we got the backpass rule.
Actually, let’s see what Wiki says:
> **[Back-pass rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-pass_rule)**
>
> In association football, the back-pass rule prohibits the goalkeeper from handling the ball in most cases when it is passed to them by a teammate. It is described in Law 12, Section 2 of the Laws of the Game.
> Goalkeepers are normally allowed to handle the ball within their own penalty area, and once they have control of the ball in their hands opposition players may not challenge them for it. However the back-pass rule prohibits goalkeepers from handling the ball after it has been deliberately...
> [@](#):
>
> The back-pass rule was introduced in 1992[3] to discourage time-wasting and overly defensive play after the 1990 World Cup was described as exceedingly dull, rife with back-passing and goalkeepers holding up the ball. Also, goalkeepers would frequently drop the ball and dribble it around, only to pick it up again once opponents came closer to put them under pressure; a typical time-stalling technique. Therefore, another rule was introduced at the same time as the back-pass rule, with the same intentions. This rule prohibits the goalkeeper from handling the ball again once he has released it for play. This offence would also result in an indirect free kick to the opposition.
The problem right now is that the rules were changed a few years back. IIRC it used to be that the goalie could only take three steps with the ball, but this was changed to “however many you want within a time limit”. The problem being that referees rarely enforce the time limit.
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### Author:  [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/13 "2012-08-07T11:32:53Z")
Thanks for the info gang.
Yes, it was an IDK.
Thanks also for the FIFA rule update.
See what happens when you don’t ref a game for 20+ YEARS?
:o
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### Author:  [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/14 "2012-08-07T11:44:59Z")
I think this rule should be enforced a lot more in all forms of play, but as it is only really an issue towards the end of a game, I guess referees are advised to not be too strict on it otherwise.
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### Author:  [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/15 "2012-08-07T12:02:54Z")
The goalkeeper claims that she was never given a warning:
> **[Breaking News - Headlines & Top Stories | The Star](https://www.thestar.com/)**
>
> thestar.com is one of Canada's largest online news sites and 100% Canadian-owned. Live news, investigations, politics, sports and the heartbeat of Toronto, Canada's largest city.
> [@](#):
>
> No warning was given, according to McLeod.
To me, the most egregious part of the call was that fact that it was made while the keeper was in the process of kicking the ball.
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### Author:  [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/16 "2012-08-07T12:36:00Z")
> [@Rysto](#):
>
> The goalkeeper claims that she was never given a warning:
>
> [Breaking News - Headlines & Top Stories | The Star](http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/football/article/1237877--london-2012-canada-loses-4-3-to-us-in-olympic-soccer-semifinal)
> To me, the most egregious part of the call was that fact that it was made while the keeper was in the process of kicking the ball.
Yup, and with 13+ minutes (plus stoppage time) remaining.
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### Author:  [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/17 "2012-08-07T14:27:36Z")
I haven’t seen it, and I’m not a ref. My opinion as a fan and a rec league player is that the gk should be verbally warned the first time to pick up the pace. The second time, a “Let’s go,” a point to the watch, and then a hand countdown from 5 to indicate the gk has got to hurry up. Assuming the gk kicks it by the 5 seconds, no card or freekick is given. Third time, the gk would have 10 seconds total, and then I’d expect to hear a whistle and see a card given.
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### Author:  [@loougle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loougle)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/18 "2012-08-07T14:38:56Z")
There are four offences for which an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a goalkeeper, inside his own penalty area, commits any of the following offences:
- takes more than six seconds while controlling the ball with his hands before releasing it from his possession
straight from [fifa.com](http://fifa.com)
EXTREMELY rare rule, but really this ref was by the books. I really want USA to win but I am still not sure if this was an unfair call or one of the best calls a ref has made.
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### Author:  [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/19 "2012-08-07T14:45:51Z")
I’d be more upset about the penalty. It looked like accidental hand ball to me. Bugbear of mine, far too many penalties are given for hand ball. Whether it was heading towards the goal or not should be irrelevant.
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### Author:  [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-vs-canada-soccer-6-seconds-by-goalie-bs-call/630691/20 "2012-08-07T14:47:44Z")
> [@amanset](#):
>
> …IIRC it used to be that the goalie could only take three steps with the ball, but this was changed to “however many you want within a time limit”. The problem being that referees rarely enforce the time limit.
I’ll let someone else correct me if I am wrong, but once a goalie drops the ball to his feet, there no limit in the amount of “steps” or “time” he can take, for at that very point he becomes just another field player that can be attacked/pressured – mind you, he is NOT allowed to pick-up the ball with his hands again unless there’s a change of possession.
As for the “six second rule” sure, it’s in the books though hardly enforced. What you’ll normally see first, is a warning by the ref & on a repeat, a yellow card – which normally “smarts” the keeper in ensuing possessions.
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