The Penalty Problem

In the past week we've had a lot of football. The 4 Copa America Quarter Finals, the 2 Copa America Semi Finals and a Women's World Cup Final, just to name a few. Of these 7 critical games, 5 of them went into extra time and of those 5, 4 of them went to Penalty Shootouts. So in one week, we had 7 matches that helped decide the eventual outcome of tournaments and more than half were decided by the dreaded shootout. Personally, I love shootouts, the excitement is unrivaled in sports and it tests the composure of players when everything is on the line. When is it too much though? The concept of the penalty shootout has worked so well for so long because we usually only see them in small doses. Between World Cups 1986 and 2010 we've had an average of 3 penalty shootouts per World Cup. 7 World Cups, 21 Shootouts, 112 Knockout Games, That's less than 1 in every 5 World Cup games.

Why are we now seeing more and more penalty shootouts, but why? I've come up with 3 main reasons for this. (1) Parity (2) Conservative Play (3) Refereeing Decisons. Parity is definitely alive in the international game. There was once a clear seperation between the elite nations of the world and everyone else, that seperation is now blurred. Recent penalty shootout matchups that potetially show parity are
Brazil .vs. Paraguay in the Copa America 2011 Quarter Finals and Venezuela vs Paraguay in the Copa America 2011 Semi Finals. In the first matchup we have one of the world's elite in Brazil being held to a goalless draw and eventually losing in a Shootout, in the other we have traditional regional minnows Venezuela holding Paraguay and almost actually winning. In another example involving Paraguay we have the World Cup 2010 Second Round matchup vs Japan, a team that has not ever really been a real Quarter Final quality team. Yet still they were just a shootout away from reaching that milestone just a year ago. 

The fact that Paraguay were involved in so many penalty shootouts may point to another one of my listed reasons, conservative play. Certainly the fact that Paraguay has been in shootouts with everyone from Japan and Venezuela to Brazil may have something to do with their style of play. They may not be intentionally trying to play for penalties but their defensive style of play may give weaker teams the opportunity to. One small fact about Paraguay in those last 3 shootouts is that they've won all 3. They're becoming the Germany of South America when it comes to penalty shootouts and if they're that good at it, why fight the possibility of it? Certainly the factor of conservative play has been around for quite some time where penalties are concerned. That's where the biggest problem lies with the concept of a penalty shootout.


Vizcarrondo

Refereeing decisions certainly play a part in the number of extra time games we seem to be having. What's new though? A missed penalty call there, a disallowed goal here...it's all been seen in the beautiful game. In the recent Venezuela vs Paraguay game, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo put Venezuela up seemingly only to have the goal disallowed for offside. Here we have a weaker team not going the conservative route and playing for the win and having their goal disallowed for an offside call that was debatable at best. The goal would've made history as Venezuela has never made the Copa America final in history. Now if the call was correct and should've been made I stand corrected. From the replays I've seen though it would be very difficult for me to make that call...but of course, I'm no referee. It just seems to me that the officials are in too much of a hurry to make such calls and in games where goals are hard to come by it makes all the difference.

So what's the alternative? As much as I love penalties, the only real alternative would be to get rid of the concept all together. There's nothing we can do about parity, infact we should welcome it, but conservative play and bad refereeing decisions will happen regardless. At the end of the day, the most important of games should not be decided by penalties. If we were to get rid of shootouts the best alternatives I can think of are Silver Goal and the system the MLS used in its early years. Silver Goal is simple, if one team scores in the 1st half of extra time the other team then has to score before the end of that period for the match to continue. If the other team cannot tie the score by the end of that period of extra time, the team that has the lead is the winner. In this case, if the score is tied after extra time we can then use the penalty shootout to settle things. It would definitely throw conservative play out the window in many situations. The second alternative is the former MLS solution. Not much was good in the first years of the MLS but their way of settling ties were fun and made sense. Instead of 5 standard penalties by both teams, we would have 5 shooting opportunities by both teams. Each player would be given 5 seconds to go 1 on 1 with the keeper and attempt a shot. If no shot was attempted in 5 seconds then it counts the same as a miss. This alternative brings a little more of the game into the decider and would be just as exciting for fans. Regardless, we have penalty shootouts for the near future and there's not much that will be done to change that fact. I just hope we get them in smaller doses, so we can enjoy the novelty and hope the better team wins.

The Women's World Cup Final

Yesterday there was a lot of football being played around the world. I am so happy that the game I chose to give the most attention to was the FIFA Women's World Cup Final. It was worth it, from start (literally) to the end of the game. It was a good final and worthy of the occasion.



Megan Rapinoe

The first thing I noticed was that Megan Rapinoe was finally starting for the US. She had an amazing tournament and in my opinion has been really underated. The game kicked off and immediately there was an opportunity for the US on the Japanese goal. Lauren Cheney within seconds had a shot at the near post, a shot in which she should've passed to Wambach in the middle, but a good shot regardless. Welcome to the final.

Lauren Cheney

In the 8th minute, Cheney was again at it, just missing on a cross by Megan Rapinoe. Less than 5 minutes later, the favour was returned, Rapinoe missed on a cross by Cheney. Despite the near misses, after 15 minutes it was all USA, but where was Abby Wambach? She was yet to make an impact on the game. Megan Rapinoe began to make her mark on the game gradually however, hitting the post in the 18th. The Japanese still hadn't had much chances in the game and the US almost capitalized in the 27th when Wambach finally showed up with a powerful left footed shot from the edge of the 18 yard box. The shot was hit as well as she could hit it and ricocheted off the crossbar. I still have no idea how she missed that shot. Japan replied quickly with their first good chance of the game. A through ball from Ohno was played to Ando putting her in a good 1 on 1 situation, but her weak shot was saved easily by Hope Solo.

Hope Solo

30 Minutes into the match, the USA still had the upper hand but Japan had began picking their spots. The 15 remaining minutes before the half saw Japan get more involved, even missing a great opportunity in the 43rd. The Half came with the score still tied 0-0, even though the USA had dominated for the most part. Japan were still very much in it though and could easily steal the game.

Alex Morgan

At the half the US lost the early spark plug, Lauren Cheney. She was replaced with qualifying hero and youngest team member, Alex Morgan. The US started where they left off and in the 49th minute there was a scramble infront of the Japanese goal but the ball was cleared. The US were causing problems for the Japanese. Japan continued to counter attack with through balls but rarely got off a shot. The USA led in shot total 15-5 at this point, though they struggled to get a shot on target. Japan began to get more creative, and a clever pass over the top by Sawa to Kinga was shot over bar. After an hour of play the score was still tied 0-0 with the Japanese evening things out.

Abby Wambach started getting more opportunities in the air after the 60 minute mark and began getting more involved in the play upfront. She had been absorbing most of the attention by the defence to this point, freeing up her strike partners, Lauren Cheney at first and now Alex Morgan. In the 65th minute she caught a break from the tough Japanese defence and was able to connect with a diving header. The shot was tipped just over the bar by the keeper, though it was an amazing shot. Just 3 minutes later, Megan Rapinoe, who had been so good all tournament long with her passes and crosses, sent a perfect long ball down field to transition from defence to offence. The ball found substitute Alex Morgan who had a clear path to goal in front of her. She took 1 touch before shooting, the ball found the corner of the net, the USA had opened the scoring! It was 1-0 in the 69th minute. Could the USA hold on though?

Japan immediately pushed forward to compensate for the goal, but the next 10 minutes were uneventful. Japan didn't change their strategy and kept pushing forward with through balls and clever passes. You could feel that one of these created opportunities would bend the defence to the point of breaking. The defence indeed broke under the pressure. With just 9 minutes left in the game, a ball was lifted into the penalty area by Japan and caused problems for the US defence. Buehler got to the ball but quickly passed it off to Kreiger, unable to clear, Kreiger lost control of the ball and it fell to the feet of Aya Miyama. Miyama smartly shot away from where Hope Solo would be diving and converted the relatively easy chance. Late into the game the score was tied. Just 1 minute later, Nagatoma of Japan had another good chance but the defence prevailed. The pressure had now shifted unto the US.

The Americans started playing long ball for the remainder of regulation time. Japan kept pushing for a winner though, and the action began going back and forth. USA began pressuring hard into the 90th minute but no shots were taken as the defence were able to handle everything thrown at them. The final whistle blew and it was 1-1. We would go to extra time

The USA true to form, began attacking immediately in the extra period. Wambach got off a strong header in the 91st but directly at the goalkeeper. 5 minutes later the USA were still getting more opportunities and had seemed to be back to dominating. Japan rarely pressured in the entire first period of extra time, just seemed to be playing defence. In the 103rd minute, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe began building up play from the corner, ending with Alex Morgan heading down the touchline towards goal. She crossed in the tight space she had and found Wambach in the 6 yard box. Abby headed the ball at point blank range and there was not much the keeper could do. Goal, USA! They now led 2-1, and it was Abby Wambach's 13th all time World Cup goal. A USA record. The whistle sounded and we would head to the last period of extra time.

The match continued immediately without much break and the Japanese tried to apply the pressure. In the 112th minute the US defence again messed up but Japan couldn't equalize. A defensive substitution was then made by the USA replacing Megan Rapinoe with Heath Tobin. In the 115th minute Japan again pressured the breaking US defence but again couldn't score, despite beating Hope Solo, who appeared to get injured on the play. The play resulted in a corner kick, but a slight delay ensued as the US trainers worked on Hope Solo. The resulting corner kick was taken and Sawa got her head to it putting the ball into the back of the net. In her 5th World Cup, she had just scored her tournament leading 5th goal, with just 5 minutes left. It was now 2-2. The US puhed forward again and in the 120th minute Abby Wambach missed a sitter. Maybe because the ball came to her foot and not her head. In injury time Japanese defender, Iwashimizu pulled down Alex Morgan on the edge of the penalty area and was Red Carded for the infraction. The resulting free kick gave USA more than 1 good opportunity to score, but they couldn't convert. We would go to penalties!!!

The USA would kick first, and Shannon Boxx would be the taker. She went to the keeper's left, but a great reflex save was made giving the US their first shootout miss in history. Aya Miyama stepped up for Japan and simply rolled her shot down the middle as Solo moved out of the way. Japan led 1-0. Carly Lloyd stepped up and promptly sent her penalty over bar. The US were now in trouble. Nagasato stepped up to give Japan a 2-0 lead, but failed. Hope Solo made the save, keeping the score at 1-0 after 2 kicks each. Tobin Heath stepped up next with the aim of scoring the USA's first kick. She too failed, her shot saved by the Japanese keeper. Hope Solo made a good effort on Japan's next kick, getting a hand to the shot, but the pace sent it into the back of the net. Sawaguchi had scored and Japan now led 2-0 after 3 kicks each. It was now clear that the USA would lose in all likelyhood. Abby Wambach stepped up next and converted a beauty of a penalty, but it would be too little, too late. Kunagai would convert Japan's 4th and final kick to give Japan the win 3-1 in the shootout, and their first World Cup title. This one would hurt the US player's for sure. They led twice only to be equalized late, but after the tragedy in Japan earlier this year at least their nation gets something to smile about.

Sawa holding the trophy!

The Death of Brazil and World Cup Qualifying

The King is dead! The King is dead! Well maybe not but let's be honest with ourselves, this isn't the Brazil that we've gotten used too. This isn't the attack spearheaded by Ronaldo or Romario. It certainly isn't the creative squad that had Ronaldinho in the middle with his magic, and it definitely isn't the Brazil that put fear into the hearts of every nation across the world.


Ronaldinho circa 2002

 The downfall began at the 2006 World Cup. Ronaldo, the golden boy of the late 90's, had shown up well overweight and the amazing Ronaldinho ended up having a bad tournament by everyone's standards. Their new stars Robinho and Adriano both seemed to have their own personal issues and their defensive problems finally caught up with them. They exited the tournament without reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 1990. Even then Brazil possessed a different breed of player though. An overweight Ronaldo still managed to score 3 times in 5 games at a World Cup. It's hard to imagine any of their new crop of players being able to contribute in that manner.

Ronaldo: early 2000's

After the 2006 tournament the team managed to win the Copa America in 2007 behind a great tournament from Robinho and then the 2009 Confederations Cup in exciting fashion. It would have been easy to consider the 2006 World Cup a fluke, but then came the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The team again lost in the Quarter Finals. During this tournament the Brazilian downfall was arguably because of the uncharacteristic loss of composure by their players in tough situations. Dunga, who had been coach for the entire cycle was replaced after the tournament. It would have been easy to blame Dunga for the bad performance and he probably did deserve it, but the results have carried over apparently.

The 2011 Copa America on rival ground in Argentina never looked like it would be Brazil's tournament. They started off with a goalless draw with Venezuela, which was shocking for 2 reasons. (1) Brazil did not defeat historical whipping boys, Venezuela and (2) Brazil did not manage to score against historical whipping boys, Venezuela. It was followed by a 2-2 draw against Paraguay, in which Brazil needed an 89th minute equalizer from Fred to get the point. After 2 games they had a draw and a near loss, 2 points from 2 games. This very unBrazilian performance was followed by the group finale against Ecuador. After being tied at 2 goals in the second half, Brazil managed to pull away and win the game 4-2. The group ended with Brazil on 5 points and placed them in a Quarter Final bout with Paraguay. Unlike the first game, which ended 2-2, the Quarter Final matchup was a goalless draw. The second time in the tournament that Brazil failed to score. The match inevitably went to a penalty shootout and the Brazilians lost. Not only did they lose, but they lost without converting a single penalty...out of 4. Elano, Andre Santos and Fred missed the goal completely while Thiago Silva had his shot saved. Very unBrazilian indeed.

Neymar

The new golden boy is the teenager, Neymar. I'm not sure if he'll ever get to the level of the great Brazilians of the past, but he'll definitely be in Brazilian plans for the remainder of this cycle. The next World Cup happens to be in Brazil, so the pressure will be on for them to perform at the tournament. They'll have the luxury of avoiding World Cup qualifying and preparing for the tournament. They will have almost 3 years to build a team capable of winning it all on home soil. We will see how it goes for the Brazilians.

There was a lot of football yesterday other than the Brazil-Paraguay game. There was the Women's World Cup final, which I will get to later. There was a World Cup Qualifying match in the Concacaf region, in which Belize beat Montserrat 3-1 to win the matchup 8-3 on aggregate. They will move on to Round 2 which will be drawn into groups at the big draw in Brazil on Saturday. There was also another Copa America Quarter Final yesterday. Venezuela managed to beat Chile 2-1 to move on to the Copa America semi-final where they will meet Paraguay, not Brazil.