Table of Contents
- What does advantage mean in soccer?
- How does the advantage rule in soccer work?
- When does advantage in soccer not make sense?
- What happens if there’s a serious injury or bad tackle?
- Can players request an advantage in soccer?
- Recap: Advantage in soccer
Advantage in soccer is an important rule that aids the flow of the game and prevents multiple stops and starts.
But what does advantage mean in soccer, and how is it applied? Find out everything you need to know about the advantage rule in soccer in this article.
What does advantage mean in soccer?
Advantage in soccer is a term given when the referee decides to play on to the advantage of the team with possession, often after their opponent has committed a foul.
It’s a popular rule with players as it lets the game flow and prevents the referee from stopping the game every time there is an infringement.
Read on to find out how the advantage rule works in practice and why it’s such an important part of the game of soccer.
How does the advantage rule in soccer work?
Advantage is all about allowing the team in possession to continue with the ball after a foul has been committed. After all, it’s not always helpful for the referee to stop the game, as the team in possession might be in a prominent attacking position.
For instance, let’s assume that Player A has the ball on the edge of his penalty area. Player A makes a brilliant pass forward to Player B (a teammate), who receives the ball on the halfway line and starts sprinting toward the opponent’s penalty area.
However, when Player A passed the ball to Player B, Player C (an opponent) mistimed a slide tackle and fouled Player A in the process. Now, the referee has a decision to make.
The referee can either stop the play and award a free kick on the edge of Player A’s penalty area. Or, the referee can award an advantage to Player A’s team, enabling his teammate to proceed with the attack as planned.
Naturally, it makes no sense for the referee to stop the game for the sake of awarding the foul, as the team in possession is in a much better position when the advantage is played.
Therefore, when applied correctly, the advantage rule aids with the natural flow of the soccer game and ensures that the team in possession benefits.
When does advantage in soccer not make sense?
There’s a key distinction between advantage and possession in soccer, which isn’t something that every referee seems to understand!
Just because your team has retained possession of the ball, it doesn’t necessarily mean that an advantage is going to benefit you. Let’s look at another example.
Assume that Player A is on the edge of the opponent’s penalty area, and he shields the ball from his opponent. Then, the opponent drags him down to the floor approximately 20 yards out from the goal. In the process, Player A manages to pass the ball to Player B (his teammate), who is 35 yards from the goal toward the side of the pitch.
Again, the referee has a decision to make. He can allow the game to continue as the attacking team has retained possession, but due to Player B’s position, it’s not really an advantage.
After all, Player A’s team would much rather be awarded the free kick 20 yards from their opponent’s goal, as they could engineer a shot on target and potentially score a goal.
As such, it’s really important that referees understand the distinction between advantage and possession, as sometimes it’s beneficial to stop the game and award a free kick, while other times it’s beneficial to award an advantage and let play continue.
What happens if there’s a serious injury or bad tackle?
Advantage in soccer is typically only applied if the foul committed isn’t too serious. If the player on the receiving end of the foul is seriously injured, the referee will stop the game, regardless of how good the advantage seems.
Equally, if the referee intends to send a player off for a foul – perhaps he deemed the challenge to use excessive force – he also won’t play advantage.
However, it’s common for a referee to allow play to continue with an advantage, and when the ball next goes out of play, they will return to the player who committed the foul to issue them with a yellow card.
In this instance, the game will continue with the relevant restart, and a free kick won’t be awarded, as the advantage has already been played.
Can players request an advantage in soccer?
No. The referee is in sole charge of deciding whether or not to award an advantage to the team in possession.
Sometimes, it can be really frustrating, particularly if the referee continues stopping the game for small fouls, as this disrupts the flow of the game.
In this instance, you could always send your captain over to chat to the referee to ask him to allow the game to flow, but you might not have any luck!
Recap: Advantage in soccer
When applied correctly, advantage in soccer is a great rule in the game and helps soccer matches flow well. It means that the referee doesn’t need to stop the game for every small infringement and can allow the team with the ball to retain possession.
However, it’s really important for a referee to use her discretion when awarding advantage in soccer, as it’s not always advantageous to do so! If advantage is applied when it doesn’t help a team, the referee is likely to receive backlash as a result.