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Mid-day Ticker: Blatter talks eliminating extra time, Capello to retire and more

Sepp Blatter (Getty)

By TRAVIS CLARK

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has revealed another plan to shake things up at the World Cup, announcing that a study to determine whether or not extra time should be eliminated would take place.

This would be done in an attempt to encourage more of an attacking style during the knockout stages. Another option would be to reintroduce the golden goal rule that was in place during the 1998 and 2002 competitions.

A technical panel will study the options on October 18, and report to FIFA’s executive committee on October 28-29 in Zurich.

Here are a few other stories to get you through the day.

CAPELLO DONE AFTER EURO 2012

England national team boss Fabio Capello confirmed rumors that he would retire after the European Championships in 2012. The 64-year-old Italian took over the England job back in December 2007, after Steve McClaren failed to guide England to Euro 2008. The Three Lions are currently at the top of UEFA Group G after winning their first two matches.

WALCOTT, VAN PERSIE INJURY BLOWS FOR ARSENAL

Arsenal midfielder Theo Walcott will miss four to six weeks, the club confirmed Thursday. Walcott suffered an ankle sprain during England’s 3-1 win over Switzerland on Tuesday. The winger was stretched off and taken to the hospital for X-rays that were negative. Joining Walcott on the sidelines is Robin van Persie, who will miss six weeks with an ankle injury sustained in the club’s 2-1 win over Blackburn.

WALES BOSS QUITS

John Toshack became the second national team manager to step down amidst the Euro 2012 qualifiers, announcing that he would step down from the Wales position, to take effect immediately. Speculation ran rampant about his future after last Friday’s 1-0 loss to Montenegro. Wales is currently third in UEFA Group G.

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Think Blatter will make rule changes at the World Cup? Who will take over for Capello? Can Arsenal cope without Walcott/van Persie? Will Ryan Giggs take over for Wales?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. What’s wrong with the Silver Ball overtime? The way I see it, there’s little difference breaking a tie score in the last five minutes of a game than in 15 extra minutes of OT. If it’s still tied, go another 15 minutes.

    But, punishing players, who are exhausted, by forcing them to play a guaranteed 30 minutes of OT is forcing a lot of teams to play cautiously and either wait for a golden opportunity in OT, or settle for PKs. If they know they can settle it in just 15 extra minutes, they might try to gamble a bit more.

    So, what’s the big negative on the Silver Ball?

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  2. And maybe this wouldn’t be a good solution. Though I do think having penalties, be it after 90 or 120 minutes, encourages weaker teams to play for the tie. Not to mention it’s a bad way to decide a game. I’m in favor of anything that gets rid of penalties.

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  3. I’d like to see them experiment with something like the following: After 90 minutes, allow 3 additional subs. And remove 1 player from the field. 10v10. Sudden death. After 5 minutes, remove another player. When it’s down to 6v6, then remove the ability for th GK to use hands. While this is a bit of an extreme idea, it’s no less silly than deciding a game by penalties.

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  4. That might be true but i imagine most of the 60 year old men puffing on cigars were at one time better players and have more playing experience than anyone on this blog.

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  5. am i the only person who sees this as sarcasm? I think he is saying (correct me if i am wrong) that goal line technology or instant replay changes the game in such a way that it would be equivalent to getting rid of offsides. seeing as how people reacted to there being no offsides that is a pretty bold statement but i agree with it.

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  6. agreed. if fifa wants more goals maybe their refs should stop calling phantom calls or ones that were perfectly onside or crossed the line… haha

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  7. Think of Jamaica vs Germany. If you don’t think population size and location play into why some countries are better at football than others then you are not paying attention. The question of how to make the tournament a fair one is moot. It can not be fair when some countries have built in advantages. That is why less talented teams will try to play for a tie.

    BTW – The US, China and India are excellent at the sports that they consider their national past time. Just like Brazil and Germany are in theirs.

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  8. Almost. Keep it like it is now, but a 0-0 tie is .5 points in the standings. Playing for a scoreless draw is just too appetizing for some teams now.

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  9. So with your logic the US, India, and China should be world soccer giants. And small countries like Portugal have no business at the WC.

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  10. Bring Back the NASL/Hockey style Shootout!!! way better than PKs from the putting green.

    or just stop f’ing with the game and step up the refereeing! or just flat out stopping paying the suits so much. It sounds like FIFA does these “shake up plans” just to justify his salary!

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  11. Anything to get the penalty kicks faster. Maybe eliminate the second half if it is tied 0-0 and to straight to PKs.

    FIFA is a joke.

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  12. I see what you are saying, but I usually come here first before going to FIFA.com or reading AP reports. I think SBI does a good job covering various topics so that we can quickly access information.

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  13. Golden Goal is the ONLY way to do extra time. C’mon, if you can’t find a winner in 90 minutes – next goal wins. If you want suspense in football, GOLDEN GOAL is the way to go. Please bring it back.

    As for eliminating extra time altogether – that is blasphemy

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  14. Leave the group stage the way it is. Only play 90 minutes, but change the rewards for a tie. Right now, each team gets 1 point for a tie.

    Change the rule so that each team gets a point for every goal they score in a tie, up to 3 goals/points. A 0-0 tie results in no points for either team. A 1-1 is a point for each team, 2-2 is 2 points for each, 3-3 is 3points for each , 4-4 is 3 points for each team and probably exciting for the fans. This change should encourage offense without adding time to the game.

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  15. I kind of like that idea too.

    I also like what hockey does during its playoffs, which is not just sudden death, but play until one team scores, no matter how many extra periods it takes.

    I don’t know how FIFA would define periods or if they would just keep playing 45 minute “halves.” It doesn’t really matter, though, in sudden death.

    It becomes a game of attrition, but keeps the essence of the game in place, which isn’t the case with PKs. I HATE PKs!!!!!!

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  16. eliminate ties in group play so we dont have to suffer through the dreck that was on display in the group stages this past world cup. That was someof the most boring soccer i’ve ever seen because everyone played for ties.

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  17. Probably the most interesting idea I have seen was to have penalty kicks before extra time. The team that wins the penalty shootout would get an “advantage”. Then after extra time if the score is still level the team with the advantage would move on. There would be a lot more attacking play in extra time, with the team without the advantage would be desperate to score, while the team with the advantage trying to hold on and possibly trying the counterattack to put the game away.

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  18. Is it just me or is SBI struggling to 1) break new stories (lack of contacts? sources? 2)Write original reports that are interesting? (Too many standard reports, fantasy report, College Report, USL/NASL report, MLS report..etc.

    Kind of feel like SBI has lost some of its originality…I know some of you SBI diehards are going to hate me for saying this, but it seems to have been a while since SBI has broke an interesting story. What do you all think? I’ll still be coming to check the site hoping for some new breaking news…

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  19. FIFA should use the original MLS shootout rules.. obviously joking.

    I remember doing the subtract-a-player OT rule a few times in indoor tournaments as a kid, can’t imagine how exhausting it’d be 11 v 11

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  20. true, but nobody likes teams coming into WC games just playing for a tie either. I’m all for them at least thinking about ways to encourage less defensive play.

    Plus, no need to get so agitated when all they said was it’s one option. It’s not like they came out and said they’ve just decided to implement it again.

    Being an American who grew up with sudden death, I’m not calling for it, but I’d have no problem if it were to become reality. Nobody liked it because it was a new concept, and it was said to be unfair that a team wouldn’t be given a chance to come back in extra time. The question is, if they really are afraid that by attacking, they’re more likely to allow a goal, would golden goal really encourage teams to not try to wait for a shootout, when playing a better team? I don’t see it leading to any tactical changes at all.

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  21. I prefer Golden Goal myself. I know people claim it creates a defensive mind but sudden death is more exciting all the same.

    The teams that play for penalties will do so either way.

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  22. “A technical panel will study the options on October 18, and report to FIFA’s executive committee on October 28-29 in Zurich.”

    FIFA technical panel = bunch of 60-year old men who’ve never watched a game outside of a VIP box puffing on cigars and figuring out what’s most profitable.

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  23. I like the subtracting players idea – especially if coupled with additional subs in extra time. If there were one or two fresh attackers in extra time running at tired defenders we might see some goals.

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  24. Fox Soccer once suggested alternating corner kicks rather than PKs; the result would be kind of like college football OT. I gotta say, I like that idea.

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  25. What FIFA should be thinking and preparing for the Zurich meeting is the use of goal line video technology to review every goal scored. It would take just a few seconds to do the review while the play is still stopped and avoid embarrassing moments like the ones we saw in this summer’s worldcup with goals that should have not counted. But eh, that’s just me. 😉

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  26. Can we convince Capello to stay, and Blatter to retire instead? From his refusal to even consider or beta-test much-needed technology, to his collusion with Michel Platini to favor Europe, that guy has got to go.

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  27. I say go with an overtime period and gradually remove players. Can you imagine an 8 vs 8 scenario? The amount of space available for attacking would be immense and as teams tired it would open up even more. Just a thought.

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  28. Terrible idea. If you like that then go watch an indoor league. Or Australian Rule Football. Because that is what it would turn into. Two goalies just punting it to the other end to see who can get a lucky touch or bounce.

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  29. FIFA is always trying to make the World Cup as fair as possible but it is a flawed system to begin with that will never be fair.

    It can never be fair when you have participants from countries with a population of less than 10 million competing against countries with populations over 100 million. And that example is just the tip of the iceberg when you think about advantages that are achieved from size and geography alone.

    I for one don’t think there is anything wrong with the game. I have enjoyed all of the world cups since 1990. FIFA always comes out with new proposals to “fix” the game. They even had one that would increase the size of the goals…and another that would not allow a defending team to make a wall in front of a free kick. I am sure we will hear about more strange proposed changes in the future.

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  30. what is next, limiting the number of players that can be in the defensive half of the pitch? Seriously, goal line technology and additional refs on the pitch would help but golden goals, silver goals, no extra time have all been epic FAILS

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  31. Do the Arsenal players do any kind of fitness training or do they only work with the ball because it seems they are more fragile then players from other clubs. Perhaps they need to invest a bit more in their sports medicine department.

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  32. I agree with both of your points.

    The first thing I thought of when I read about the proposal eliminating extra time was that now the small team would have 30 less minutes to have to defend.

    I think we would see teams putting out lineups without attackers.

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  33. Wow, the folks at FIFA are seriously out of touch. They tried the Golden Goal extra time before, it sucked, they dropped it, and now they’re bringing it back?

    They need to get with it. Institute some kind of goal line technology and/or instant replay. That’s soccer biggest issue right now.

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  34. It would be easier if we just reported when RVP WAS healthy enough to play rather then when he’s injured.

    Direct to PK’s would mean more teams would play for the draw against the big boys and then try their hand at PK’s.

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  35. What was the reason why Golden Ball was withdrawn? From what I recall (given, I was young 2002 and hardly remember 98) NO ONE LIKED IT. Why bring back something that in 4 years time people are probably going to be wanting to get rid of it again

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