Quarter Final penalty heartbreak for Ghana vs Uruguay
"We are considering doing away with draws in the first round... and also ending extra-time play."
Here's a question for you Sepp:
What makes you think a team playing for a draw will be any less negative if there's no extra time, and if a penalty shoot-out is guaranteed in a group game ?
All you're doing is making it easier for negative teams to achieve their objectives. As we stand, an unbearably boring but defensively sound team like New Zealand can go unbeaten through 3 World Cup matches without ever remotely looking like they might win a game. Under Sepp's new system they would have gone to 3 penalty shoot-outs. Even if they'd only won one of those shoot-outs they would have ended up with 3 points....which is what they actually did end up with in this World Cup. Under Sepp's new system all they would have had to do was win one more shoot-out and they would have been into the last 16.
New Zealand equalise in injury time vs Slovakia
Having reached the last 16 without actually trying to win a game why on earth would they now start playing adventurous football ? (By the way, I'm Irish, and I came of age in the Jack Charlton era so I know what I'm talking about!) Another heroic rearguard display from the All Whites against Japan in Pretoria leads to another successful penalty shoot-out and a place in the quarter finals against Spain.
Ray Houghton scores for Jack Charlton's Ireland vs Italy in 1994 World Cup in USA.
I could go on and trace a plausible path to the final for New Zealand but I'm sure you get the picture already. If you want the best teams to thrive in a World Cup you need to give them more chances to break down frustratingly unambitious teams like NZ.....not less.
I really enjoyed the Golden Goal rule, for the simple reason that it rewarded teams who could score during the match and not just during the penalty shoot-out.
David Trezeuguet wins Euro 2000 with a Golden Goal vs Italy.
Not sure what the problem is Sepp. This World Cup had a shockingly low number of goals in the first round of group games (25 in 16 games)...but, thereafter, it more than made up for its slow start. The second set of 16 games saw a total of 42 goals, almost 3 per game. The third round of group games saw 34 goals, over 2 per game. Other than Algeria and New Zealand I can't really think of any other team who played for the draw.
For the record, the 16 knockout games produced 44 goals, as opposed to the 30 seen in Germany 2006.
As for doing away with extra time in the knockout stage and going straight to extra time I am even more baffled by Mr Blatter's latest pronouncement. This tournament saw only two games decided on penalties (as opposed to four in Germany 2006). If Sepp's system had been in place this year we would have been robbed of the drama of Gyan's extra time winner for Ghana in the Round of 16 against USA, not to mention Iniesta's 116th minute winner in the Final.
Asamoah Gyan cannot believe what he has just done in the Quarter Final vs Uruguay !
To prove my point.....can you name the man who scored the winning penalty for Italy in 2006 ? Perhaps you can, but I guarantee you he'll never be as famous as Andres Iniesta.
Grosso.....and Iniesta to the right.
So, please Sepp, fix the things that are broken...like teams qualifying for the finals because you're not brave enough to use video technology. But don't fix things that aren't broken. The World Cup had a complicated and bizarre format as recently as 1982. We've had it right for the last 7 World Cups. It works. Leave it alone.
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