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!

Matchday Report: Copa America, Women's World Cup

Ahhhh, some things will never change! A year will always be 12 months, we will all die one day and Colombia will always disappoint! Coming into this Copa America I didn't expect much from the Colombians to be honest, but after the first round...I started to believe. Maybe, just maybe, this was going to be the return of top class Colombian football. After all, the team has quite a bit of talent and seemed to have some momentum going into Saturday's Quarter Final matchup with Peru. Peru didn't exactly seem like the toughest of opponents either...but that's why they play the matches. Twenty minutes into the game it was obvious that this was going to be one of those tough matches where goals were going to be hard to come by. At halftime with the score tied at nil the match was playing out exactly in that manner, and the early part of the second half wasn't much different. In the 70th minute an opportunity to break the deadlock arrived when Colombia was awarded a penalty. It was clear this was going to be the type of game that 1 goal would be enough to win, so this was huge! Radamel Falcao stepped up to the spot and promptly sent the kick wide of the goal. Falcao! Colombia's young star with seemingly infinite talent had just missed a penalty with 20 minutes left. At that point I knew they were doomed. Regulation time ended with the score 0-0 as expected and the game proceeded to extra time. This is where Colombia fell apart completely. In the first period of extra time, Peru scored after a free kick was floated into the box causing chaos in the Colombian defence. The Colombian keeper came out to intercept the cross only to fall over Colombian captain, Yepes. The fall caused him to lose the little grasp he had on the ball leaving the goal open. The ball fell to Carlos Lobaton of Peru and he wasted no time blasting a shot into the open net for a Peru goal. Trailing 1-0 into the second period of extra time, Colombia began pushing everything forward with the hopes of finding an equalizer. The urgency was definitely called for but Colombia became erratic. Another goalkeeping error led to Peru sealing the victory. A poor clearance by the keeper fell to a Peruvian player instantly putting them in a 2 on 2 situation. The 2 Colombian defenders stood little chance and Peru scored a very easy goal. Colombia paid for their erratic play and Peru capitalized sealing the victory and earning a spot in the semi-final. Colombia are eliminated, and after the missed penalty and the 2 errors defensively...they have no one to blame but themselves. The talent is there for Colombia to make a serious run at qualifying for the 2014 World Cup however, and hopefully they cease their opportunities better over the next few years.

Radamel Falcao

In the other Quarter Final, Uruguay took on rivals and tournament hosts Argentina. Unlike the previous game, this game was filled with excitement from the start. The atmosphere seemed to be perfect, and the play on the field matched it. The hosts hadn't had a great opening round, but in a knockout match against one of their biggest rivals they were sure to play at their highest level. The crowd was silenced early though, when Uruguay opened the scoring through Diego Perez. A shot deflected into his path just infront of the goal, and with the keeper already beaten it didn't take much of a shot to convert for Perez. With Argentina down 1-0 you would've expected Uruguay to keep the pressure on but the momentum actually switched to the other side. Argentina pressured until they broke the Uruguay defence. Lionel Messi put together an impressive piece of play on the right side and sent a good cross into the box. Gonzalo Higuain beat the offside trap and got to the cross with his head in perfect position to beat Muslera, the Uruguayan keeper. The score was tied at 1 a piece and the game went into halftime.

Diego Perez

Uruguay lost Diego Perez to a second yellow card in the 38th minute and that meant trouble for them. Perez was not only their goal scorer on the day, but he's also a very capable defensive midfielder that would prove valuable in a game of this intensity. They would enter the second half down a man and versus Argentina on any occasion that could be critical. Versus Argentina in Argentina in a knockout round it would usually be too much for most teams to overcome. The second half was filled with the same attacking play that we saw in the first half. Uruguay did well to stay in the game and keep it competitive and Argentina started picking up caution after caution. The first yellow card went to Javier Mascherano in the 50th minute, then as the second round went on Gabriel Milito and Nicolas Burdisso joined him in the referee's book. The winning goal proved to be elusive for both teams however. With extra time looming, the game tied and up by a man, Argentina replaced Aguero with Carlos Tevez. Only 3 minutes later though, Javier Mascherano picked up his second yellow and joined Diego Perez as the ejected players in the game. The game would enter extra time tied at 1 a piece.

Carlos Tevez

Just as the earlier game, we had a game for a spot in the semi final go into extra time. Argentina pushed forward and started creating more chances in the extra periods. Messi was instrumental, and had a chance or two stay out of the goal in situations that could have easily gone his way. A Tevez free kick deflected off the wall and almost set a date with Peru for the Argentinians. Muslera had already dove to the spot he expected the kick to go, only for the ball to deflect to the direction he had dove from. His leg managed to save the shot and a rebound at point blank range was pushed away by Muslera, all in a split second. The game ended deadlocked at 1 goal a piece and we went on to a penalty shootout. Lionel Messi stepped up and converted the first spot kick with ease. Diego Forlan was first for Uruguay and matched Messi. Nicolas Burdisso scored his penalty followed by Luis Suarez for Uruguay. With the shootout tied at 2, neither team had come close to missing when Carlos Tevez stepped up. He shot low and to Muslera's right but the shot was saved. Uruguay had gotten the break they needed. Scotti converted Uruguay's 3rd kick to give them the lead in the shootout. Pastore was next for Argentina, knowing that a miss here would give Uruguay a foot into the semi-final. Pastore went low and to the keeper's right like Tevez had done before him, and Muslera guessed right again. The shot was blocked by Muslera's hand only to deflect into the net. Muslera pounded his fist in disappointment, knowing that a save would have meant Uruguay only needed 1 more conversion. Walter Gargano stepped up and calmly converted for Uruguay to make the shootout score 4-3 in favour of Uruguay. Argentina sent Higuain to take their final kick of the shootout, hoping that he could extend it. He smashed the shot off the bottom of the crossbar, it bounced off the ground and into the net. Uruguay sent Caceres last to win it all for his country. He stepped to the spot and converted the shot with ease. Uruguay won the shootout 5-4 and eliminated their rivals on their home soil. The win means that Uruguay will face Peru in the Copa America semi-finals later this week.

Lotta Schelin

In an update of the Women's World Cup. Sweden managed to beat France in the 3rd place playoff by the score of 2-1. At halftime Sweden led by 1-0 from a Lotta Schelin goal. After the half the French put the pressure on and managed to equalize with a nice shot from just outside the 18 yard box. The shot was kept low and just inside the post to the keeper's right. With 34 minutes left Sweden went on the attack and managed to win the game with a goal in the 82nd minute by Marie Hammarstrom. The goal was a thing of beauty and a nominee for goal of the tournament in an upcoming blog of mine. Both Sweden and France qualify for the Women's football tournament at next year's Olympics. Stay tuned for my next blog for a review of the Women's World Cup final between USA and Japan.

Marie Hammarstrom