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44 years of soccer futility
edmundfitzgerald
Posts: 4,306 ✭✭
in Sports Talk
I'm sure no one here cares, but Spain is trying to win it's first major tournament in soccer in 44 years this Sunday against Germany.
It starts around 2:45 on ABC. You could probably turn it on around 4pm to see how they're doing. You'll see the Spanish fans going
nuts if their team is winning late in the game. They are sort of the Chicago Cubs of soccer, always finding a way to lose. However,
they are undefeated in the tournament so far. They have played "perfect" soccer up till now. I will be rooting for the Germans.
It starts around 2:45 on ABC. You could probably turn it on around 4pm to see how they're doing. You'll see the Spanish fans going
nuts if their team is winning late in the game. They are sort of the Chicago Cubs of soccer, always finding a way to lose. However,
they are undefeated in the tournament so far. They have played "perfect" soccer up till now. I will be rooting for the Germans.
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Comments
<< <i>why, in soccer as in Hockey do they resort to penalty kicks to determine a game? I think thats incredibly lame. It's like if baseball decided to go to home run derby in the 9th inning if the score was tied. >>
Couldn't agree more.
<< <i>why, in soccer as in Hockey do they resort to penalty kicks to determine a game? I think thats incredibly lame. It's like if baseball decided to go to home run derby in the 9th inning if the score was tied. >>
A good question that is still debated to this day. The general rule of thumb is that 90 minutes of soccer plus 30 minutes of
extra time is way too demanding on the human body. Unlike baseball, soccer is a very demanding sport. They track ice time
for the best players in hockey, and they only skate for 30 minutes at the most during the game, with two intermissions.
Basketball players get 30-35 minutes of actual playing time a game, with 3 rest periods during quarters, and plenty of TV time outs.
Soccer is continuous for 45 minutes, no stoppages, and then only 1 fifteen minute break, and then another 45 minutes with no stoppages.
It is easily the most physically demanding sport out there among the major sports.
Agreed that penalties are a poor way to settle matches. I enjoy the drama, but they're just not a good indication of which team is superior. I'd much rather see a golden goal decide matches, at least in the finals and semis of major tournaments. Even a replay, like in the early rounds of the FA Cup, might be better.
1 - Men's Tennis is the most demanding sport for elite athletes. What other game can last for over 4 and a half hours of all reaction and running? At Wimbledon, there used to be no tiebreakers and they had 6 hour matches.
2 - I completely agree on the Golden Goal vs. Penalty kicks argument as noted below. While it IS exciting, it's no way for a real championship to be decided. I hate when Olympic Hockey uses shootouts in the medal rounds too.
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<< <i>
A good question that is still debated to this day. The general rule of thumb is that 90 minutes of soccer plus 30 minutes of
extra time is way too demanding on the human body. Unlike baseball, soccer is a very demanding sport. They track ice time
for the best players in hockey, and they only skate for 30 minutes at the most during the game, with two intermissions.
Basketball players get 30-35 minutes of actual playing time a game, with 3 rest periods during quarters, and plenty of TV time outs.
Soccer is continuous for 45 minutes, no stoppages, and then only 1 fifteen minute break, and then another 45 minutes with no stoppages.
It is easily the most physically demanding sport out there among the major sports. >>
IMO, if you're playing for the entire championship of Europe, it's time to suck it up and play an extra 30-45 minutes in order to determine the "true" champion. Add a 25 minute break in between overtimes. I'm sure players would rather have it come down to actual play rather than on their goalie's ability to guess correctly.
Aw fine, I won't be so lazy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penalty_shootout_(association_football)
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Why can't they just play it kind of like Stanley Cup hockey? Golden Goal...periods of 15 minutes with 5 minute breaks between periods...after every period, you can make 1 additional substitution....
<< <i>OK, so if penalty kicks happen before the OT, what happens when the losing team ties it up in OT...then what do we do, more penalty kicks? >>
It wouldn't matter that a team lost in the pre-OT penalties if they were the only ones to score in the extra time. They'd be the winners of the match. The penalty result would only count if the teams were still tied after the 30 minutes of extra time.
I was hoping for a little more from today's match, but am happy Spain won.
SUCKS!!