Natasha Kai, Striker, USWNT
On Wednesday the US Women's National Soccer Team tied Sweden 1-1 in the finals of the Algarve Cup in Portugal. The game was particularly exciting as the US tied the score during stoppage time, which is the few minutes that are tacked on at the end of each half to make up for stoppages (e.g. injuries, ball chasing). In this tournament, the rules call for a penalty shoot out to determine the tournament winner if the teams are tied after ninety minutes. In other tournaments, such as the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup, two fifteen-minute overtime periods are played, so each team has a chance to defend both goals, and the penalty shoot out occurs only if the teams are tied after that.
In a penalty shoot out, each team takes five penalty shots, alternating between teams. For each shot, the ball is placed directly in front of the goal, twelve yards away. The goalkeeper must remain on the goal line until the shooter kicks the ball.
If they are tied after five shots each, they start sudden death penalty shooting. Unfortunately for the American women, Sweden prevailed 4-3.
Most soccer fans, players, and coaches dislike penalty shoot outs because soccer is a team sport and shoot outs are individual competitions. Shoot outs also feel like flipping coins. A penalty shot heavily favors the shooter because if she can kick the ball near a post, the goalkeeper cannot stop it. Goalkeepers are allowed to move along the goal line prior to the kick, so they typically dive one way or the other in anticipation. The shooter fails if she fails to put the ball in the frame or kicks the ball near the goalkeeper. But with skilled players, the shot hits the net seventy to eighty percent of the time.
There are several alternatives to the penalty shoot out. In golden goal, a sudden-death overtime period is played where the first team to score wins. There are two problems with this option. First, because soccer is played outdoors on a field, one team may have an advantage due to wind or other conditions. Second, the influence of the referees on the outcome is increased, as they can disallow a goal (e.g. by calling offsides) or award a penalty kick (e.g. by calling a major foul). This may put the refs at risk of violence should the crowd disagree with their calls.
A variant of golden goal is silver goal, which is the same as golden goal except that after a goal is scored, play continues until the end of the current overtime period. Unfortunately, as an overtime period nears its end, silver goal becomes golden goal, so it's not much of an improvement.
So how should tied games be decided? Penalty shoot outs are leave too much to chance and emphasize the individual over team play. Golden and silver goals may give one team an unfair advantage and put too much power in the hands of refs, in addition to the risk of crowd violence.
Why not let the teams keep playing overtime periods? If tied after the two fifteen-minute periods, two ten-minute periods are played. If still tied, then two five-minute periods. If still tied, then two more five-minute periods, and so on until the tie is broken. Additionally, the number of players is reduced; eleven in the fifteen-minute periods, nine in the ten-minute periods, and seven in the five-minute periods. Players are selected from the eleven that were playing at the end of regulation.
Others have suggested similar schemes. Why not give it a try?
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