From Ask a Soccer Referee:

CONFUSED GOALKEEPER REDUX 2 [LAW 12; LAW 18]

Your question:
Did you really mean to say, in response to the query by the "confused goalkeeper" in your July 29 posting, that "If you actually had possession as defined above, rather than simply going for the ball and yet not having it pinned down, then the second player was in the wrong and should have been punished for kicking or attempting to kick an opponent -- a direct free kick for the goalkeeper's team -- and possibly sent off for serious foul play and shown the red card if he made contact with you. "

The questioner clearly wrote: "...of course the [ball] came loose after the forward barreled into me and the other player pounded the ball into the goal...."

Is the USSF position truly that a player who kicks a loose ball into the goal (no matter how it came to be loose) is guilty of kicking or attempting to kick an opponent and should be penalised and possibly sent off?

I mention this because there is a pernicious rumor circulating among (dubious, IMO) referees that goes like this:
1. A player cannot legally play the ball after the goalkeeper has taken possession.
2. Possession = Control
3. IBD 2 for Law 12 defines control as touching the ball with any part of the hand or arms.
4. Therefore, after the goalkeeper has touched the ball with any part of his hands or arms, even if he subsequently loses control or deliberately releases the ball, any player attempting to play the ball has committed a foul and shoould be at least cautioned and probably sent off.

Your answer seems to support this conclusion in that, if the goalkeeper established control and then subsequently lost it, the attacker is guilty of a foul if he plays the loose ball. I'm not making this up. You don't have to go far in the soccer community, even the referee community, to have this argument raised.

USSF answer (August 13, 2003):
There is a vast difference between "control" and "possession."

"Control" under the Law occurs when the goalkeeper plays the ball with his hand to direct it somewhere.

"Possession" occurs when the ball is actually under the goalkeeper's physical control (rather than simply being redirected).

Other players may not attempt to play the ball while the goalkeeper has possession of the ball or is attempting to release the ball so that others may play it. Attempting to do so with the foot is classified as either kicking or attempting to kick. Following the overhaul of the Laws of the Game in 1997, the ball itself cannot be lawfully played while in the goalkeeper's possession. Therefore any attempt to kick, head, knee, or otherwise play the ball out of the goalkeeper's possession must be considered as an action directed at the goalkeeper himself/herself and therefore should be considered kicking or attempting to kick -- a direct free kick offense. If contact were made, the referee might consider that the kicking player committed serious foul play and might then send off the player and show the red card.