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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. I like the golden goal. That was essentially what Donovan’s goal against Algeria was.

    If there is still no winner after 30 minutes, give the win to the team that had taken the most corners, which would be the team that attacked most.

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  2. 1. Until goal line technology and instant reply address the issues of questionable goals and non goals, this is all window dressing.

    2. If you get rid of extra time, you’ll have teams that are ahead dropping like flies and calling for stretchers to run down the clock. This is an issue that will also need to be addressed. For example, if you need to be removed with 30 minutes left in the match you must be subbed or cannot come back on.

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  3. Why is Sepp considering these sweeping changes when all we want is better reffing? That is: goals counting when they cross the line and teams like, say, the US not having two goals waved off because of bad offside calls.

    The group stage works fine. Draws work fine. FIFA is run by fools.

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  4. Getting rid of extra time is pointless, instead of “attacking” more, the underdogs are simply going to sit back and hope for pks. Didn’t he say earlier that he wanted to eliminate draws? Blatter should just pick the teams he wants to win, that’s what he’s trying to do anyway.

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  5. Personally i like the current system. I love PKs. Suggesting that they just keep playing to me is silly cause it seems like some teams would rather sit and wait for their opponent to move then attack. Greece vs Switzerland in Brazil would never end without some form of pks. They would just stand there for days before Greece asks Germany to lend them some players. Meanwhile, Switzerland refuses to ask for help or for that matter do anything involving international discussions unless it is done in Geneva. Then the German people don’t want to help Greece, Switzerland decides to remain in still and the game ends when everyone dies from old age. (please tell me someone here follows silly European economics). On a more serious note, PKs add drama and flare. Is it soccer? maybe. Is it a perfect way to end a match. Hell if anything they should force the players to take an even longer walk while the opposing team surrounds them and then have a scoreboard right behind the goal so they can see all the pressure. The English team would collectively gain some very old fashion style ( lets go with the gout) disease and refuse to play. Are PKs really that much of an insult to the game? Isn’t The Hand of Gaul a little worse than Brazil winning in 94′. I mean there have been some good teams to win on Pks (none of them English). The current system is perfect. Just give me some replay and i’ll be happy.

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  6. This is horribly off-topic, but you bringing up sudden death golf requires a diversion. How great would it be if the players teed off at the same time and whoever got their ball in the hole first won? Why doesn’t this exist?

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  7. Actually, maybe a better idea is to start a coup against Sepp Blatter. That’ll stop all of this nonsense.

    Who’s up for a new world soccer organization? Now to find an investor…

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  8. But then you have to raise the incentive for a win. if a 3-3 tie can get you 3 points, then a win shold get you 4. Granted, there are very few 3-3 ties and maybe if you do it you should deserve the 3 points. It would certainly make the groups stage more interesting on who advances and doesn’t.

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  9. In the Group Stage, play one 15 minute extra sudden death period if the match is a tie after regulation. Give 4 points for a win earned in regular time, 2 points for a win earned in extra time, and 1 point for a tie. If any team wins a Group game in regulation, no team can win the Group with less than two extra time wins. If more than one team wins a Group game in regulation, no team can advance without a regulation win. That will properly incentivize teams to push for wins in 90s mins. After the Group stage, golden goal.

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  10. I’ve loved that idea for years. Imagine: limit both sides to 6-7 players (not unlike choosing 5 for PKs). Teams alternate attacking and defending. No short corners–ball must be played directly into the box. As long as the ball is in the penalty box and not controlled by the keeper, it is live and play continues. The Brazil-Italy final at USA94 was one of the worst games I have ever watched–neither team wanted to take a chance. In the end, it was a miss by Roberto Baggio that decided the match and ultimately tarnished the reputation of a star player.

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  11. What I think they should do instead, is institute some sort of extra time rule in the groups stage. Golden goal, but don’t go to PK’s after the two extra time periods. If it’s tied after two extra time periods, then it’s 1 point. That would make the worse teams that tend to try to hold on for ties in the group stage play a little more attacking style to try to avoid having to risk the 30 minutes of sudden death.

    I have always been comfused as to why there is no extra time in the group stage. I think it would provide more drama and excitement to the groups stage.

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  12. I saw it as complete sarcasm. And I agree with you. Is it just me, though, or did FIFA pick the one non-issue in the WC to correct and not any others?

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  13. There are sudden death rules in every other sport (with the exceptions of basketball, tennis, rugby and golf, to name a few) why should soccer be any different.

    I agree! It adds drama. While it sucks to be on the losing end, imagine what it would be like if Donovan had scored the game winning goal in extra time due to the golden goal rule. Every team could have that elated feeling us USA fans had if that were to happen.

    I’m all for golden goal. I hate the NFL sudden death rule, but it does add drama. GOLDEN GOAL all the way!

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  14. I have a better proposal that will make most fans happier than what ol’ Sepp wants to do: each team selects 5 players to kick for their side after extra time. They alternate taking a running start to kick Sepp Blatter in the nuts until he pukes. Team whose player finally makes him barf wins. Higher FIFA-rated team goes first.

    Seriously though, eliminating extra time altogether? Great, so PKs would decide even more games and the inferior teams would be even more likely to play for the tie knowing they needed to do it for only 90 minutes instead of 120. And Golden Goal, while really exciting when someone actually scores one, usually resulted in boring extra time periods that were overly defensive.

    If you’re going to remove players, I think the lowest you can go is 8 v. 8 (including the goalies) or it stops resembling the actual game anymore. At that point, you may as well go to PKs.

    Reply

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