During the first Portuguese goal, signed Gonçalo Ramos, the midfielder was the first to congratulate his young teammate. But when all the other teammates, including substitutes, threw themselves on Ramos at the edge of the field, the Manchester City player stayed behind. And that for a very specific reason. According to Law 8 of the Laws of the Game, governing the basic rules of football, at a kick-off, “all players except the kick-off player must be in their own half of the pitch.” According to the interpretation of the referee, the players not being in the limits of the field, marked by the external white lines, should not be taken into account.
In the case of the first goal celebration, all the Portuguese players were off the pitch, except for goalkeeper Diego Costa. All the Portuguese players “in play” were therefore in their own part of the field. In theory, the Nati might therefore have quickly kicked off to rush towards the Portuguese goal only defended by Costa. It remains to be seen whether the referee would have nevertheless allowed this quick throw-in, but by returning quickly to the field, Bernardo Silva canceled this possibility of kick-off.
A farsighted gesture on the part of the Portuguese midfielder who was therefore unable (entirely) to celebrate the first goal of the Seleção with his teammates.
