It was the most inexplicable way to win a tournament that has fast become a great replacement for endless international friendlies.
When Kylian Mbappe fired home for France against Spain in the Nations League final, it was clear that he was in an offside position when the ball was played to him.
However, one of the game’s anomalies state that if a defender makes a deliberate move towards the ball, the attacker standing in an offside position is deemed, bizarrely, to not then be offside.
The ruling, apparently, is to do with the various phases of play, and being offside isn’t an offence in itself.
Had Spain’s Eric Garcia made no attempt whatsoever to play the ball, Mbappe would’ve been flagged offside.
What kind of a rule is that?! It makes no sense whatsoever and the lawmakers need to amend it. Quickly.
It’s a similar scenario to the ridiculous handball ruling whereby if the ball touch any part of your arm up to the t-shirt line, even inadvertently, it would be given as a penalty.
Why can’t the authorities just apply a little bit of common sense where certain contentious rules still exist?
The ‘beautiful game’ will start to turn ugly if the most obvious and basic passages of play have to fall foul of bureaucracy.