There are many aspects of football which might confuse the casual viewer, but kick-offs have never been one of them.
Two (or sometimes three) players from the same team stand in the centre circle, one passes to another and the game continues.
Simple, right?
Well it was, until Spain and the Czech Republic decided they wanted to do things a little differently.
As the second half of their Euro 2016 group game with Spain got underway, there was just one Czech player in the centre circle. He rolled the ball back 10 yards to a team-mate, and the other players just carried on like normal
#CZE have just had one person kick off and play the ball backwards. When did that rule get introduced? pic.twitter.com/f8ni7mxB6T
— RegiTime (@regeeregeeregee) June 13, 2016
It was a slightly less extreme version of what opponents Spain had tried in the first half.
https://twitter.com/Liam_Dennis/status/742342028458131456
It had a lot of people very, very confused.
Is it just me or what? But why is it that there is only 1 player standing at the mid way line for the kickoff ? #euro2016
— Marc Tan (@MarcPaulTan) June 13, 2016
I don't understand how/why Spain and Czech Republic have been allowed to kick off like that?🤔
— lew (@LewisA_97) June 13, 2016
Can anyone tell me why Czech could take that kick off with one person & play it backwards when the ball has to go forward from a kickoff
— Olly Jones (@ollyjones212) June 13, 2016
That wasn't a kick-off! RE-TAKE IT!
— Patto (@WittyManagerYT) June 13, 2016
If you were similarly baffled, there’s a reason you haven’t seen a kick-off like it before.
According to a new official ruling introduced this year, the ball no longer has to travel forward from kick-off.
Of course it *can* still go forward, but the Czechs clearly wanted to make sure they are remembered for at least one thing in this tournament.
We wonder if other teams will get even more creative with their kick-offs throughout the rest of the tournament. 50-yard pass back to the goalkeeper, anyone?
