Libya's absurd offside position with an empty net in the 96th minute: the players don't know the rules

The end of Tunisia-Libya U20 was a complete chaos due to the offside position signaled to the Libyan national team in the 96th minute. There is nothing strange, because it is a quick counterattack that led the attacker to score with an empty net, but the entire Libyan bench stood up screaming for injustice for a goal that would have given them victory in the last moments. But none of them knew the rules in depth, which gives the referee full right, despite fierce protests.

Libya's offside position is absurd

Watching the action, it seems difficult to understand where the offside position could be, because the goal is empty and in front of the Libyan striker there is a Tunisian defender. The goal was empty because the goalkeeper had climbed up to play the role of “tall” in the development of a corner kick, which, on the contrary, brought about a counterattack. But the goal cannot be considered valid because it is irregular in all respects: the Libyan striker received the ball in the opponent’s half of the field and in front of him there was only one opponent, while according to the regulations there must be at least two opponents between him and the goal line to be in a legal position.

The Libyan player started behind the halfway line of the field, when all the Tunisian players had gathered in the penalty area for the corner kick and only one was left to defend the goal, which was already unprotected, because the goalkeeper had also climbed up to help. The Libyan striker's run was worthless and there was not enough of a player in front of him to make the action valid, an action that would have brought the winning goal in the 96th minute. The entire bench stood up to protest, because they did not understand the situation and did not know the regulation well, which was applied correctly in a truly unusual situation that has already gone viral.