Not sure the rules are being followed. How many substitutes are allowed this World Cup? I think Japan substituted their entire team at half time.
Perhaps Germany are discovering that it wasn't a good idea to allow the Bundesliga to become a Bayern cake walk for the past decade. Their dominance has been aided and abetted by almost every other team to the detriment of locally developed talent.
Because he had to judge whether the player had subsequently challenged for the ball which is a matter for the onfield officials, not the VAR. If he didn't then whether he was offside was immaterial.
It's quite unusual that it is in any doubt. In most cases the offside player actually touches the ball.
I have just seen the photo on the BBC website. If the ball is still in play, then the Japan player on the ground with his leg on the ground has a part of his leg in an offside position in the eyeline of the goal keeper so the goal should be ruled out.Fractions of a millimetre I know , but still offside just like many other offside decisions
I'm not sure the ball isn't out, I am certain that anything in advance of it is off the pitch though, so offside is not possible at that point (IMO).
The "cake walk" part is not the issue. The issue is whether your domestic league is so diluted by 'DIE-versity is our strength' players that your national players become so inferior in talent and numbers. A case in point is Spain of a decade ago, and the Barca/Madrid hegemony. Yes they had the likes of CR7/Messi etc, but collectively they had the likes of Puyol/Ramos/Xavi/Iniesta/Villa and so the national team was on solid ground. In rugby, NZ in the past had a policy where if a player was not playing in ANZ land, they were not selected. Perhaps in football the FAs should in a kindred spirit should decree that those native players not : 1. playing in a peer league to the PL 2. accruing a sufficient number of starting XI mins throughout a season will not be selected for the national team, and the nation will have to live with the consequences, good or bad.
The technology is not accurate enough to make these millimetre decisions, I would love to know how they ascertain the exact moment the pass is made or the ball leaves the body of the player making the assist for example, they are also relying on these lines being drawn accurately etc. Whenever I have seen screenshots of these offsides and shoddy lines drawn on a screen, it does not have an accurate look about it at all, so coming up with millimetre decisions is all a bit meh. There needs to be a margin of error built into it, with the benefit of doubt going to the attacker.
