Sepp Blatter: Penalty shoot-outs must remain, they’re football’s great leveller

Penalties bring joy and pain in equal measure, as Chelsea and Bayern Munich found out recently

It is interesting that the honorary president of Bayern Munich, Franz Beckenbauer, has been tasked with finding an alternative to the penalty shoot-out. He must have been as upset as anyone at Bayern’s unfortunate loss to the sixth-placed Premier League side.

Dare I say then, that his current mindset may not be remotely dispassionate or balanced – as we would expect of a man poised to reshape our beautiful game.

Sepp Blatter, a man who many believe to be the wrong man to head up Fifa, due to his controversial past comments on hand shakes and homosexuality, is apparently so much in favour of the abolition of football’s climatic fore that he has spoken out before the upcoming Euro 2012 competition this summer. The Swiss has called penalty shoot-outs a “tragedy,” with which football “losses its essence.” So what are the alternatives?

There’s the golden goal of course, a previously trialled formula that would seem the most ideal candidate. It provides a thrilling end, and does so in a reasonably fair and appropriate manner. It replaces extra time, and significantly reduces the chances of a shoot-out with a single goal bringing the tie to an end, as it did in the Euro 2000 final.

Or, as prior to 1970, such situations were settled with a replay, drawing lots or indeed, the toss of a coin. There are some who might argue these to be the ‘fairest’ way in deciding an even contest – though I would imagine all would prove to be formidably unpopular choices.

The boredom of such practice heavily outweighs any talk of equality. A replay is simply off the cards in an international tournament, and drawing lots or tossing a coin takes more essence out of football than Sepp Blatter himself does. Well, almost.

The problem is, many football matches in tournaments such as the Euros do not bring about a ‘fair’ result. The same applies to club football. Sure, Chelsea had far less of the ball than Bayern Munich, and while the German side played at home, it probably would have been a similar situation in any European city. But that’s what makes football so special; the fact that however good a team is, the contester still has a chance. Look at Greece, a country talked about at the moment for all the wrong reasons; they won Euro 2004 while remaining explicit underdogs throughout. The final against hosts Portugal was startlingly close to a shoot-out before Greece scored a dramatic winner. On ’statistics’ Portugal should have been the team opening the Champagne. Football is not a game of mathematics.

Chelsea beat Barcelona to get to the final this May. However they did it, they deserved to be there – throughout football’s history the lesser team has often triumphed in the face of adversity. And the fact is, defending is as much an element of the game as attacking is. It may be more exciting to watch Brazil or Argentina dance up the pitch weaving a tear-jerking tapestry of footballing brilliance, but they need teams to hang that tapestry over. They need teams like England.

Others have suggested slightly more enigmatic solutions to the apparent tragedy of spot kick decidability. The Mail today has come up with some of their own, such as ‘rock, paper, scissors’ – though probably more in jest than in proposition. That said, it is clear there are some other than Blatter himself who perhaps believe spot-kicks to be outdated or unjust.

As England supporters, we should scorn at any such deciding factor within football. On so many occasions have we watched our team fall foul at a single kick of a football.

But penalty shoot-outs should remain. They need to remain. They have been the nail-biting, gut-wrenching, heart-on-the-sleeve series of golden moments so many of us have witnessed. Even if they mean the ‘lesser’ team comes out victorious, it simply shows they defended with all their might and fought hard to be there.

I am all for flowing football – the English game more than any other needs to improve at that – but don’t take away the worthy climax that has brought fans across the world to their knees, brought silence across continents and a pressure only accountable to a player earning millions of pounds a year. An individual stepping up to their deliverance might
seem sacrificial, but that’s the theatre of it, right?

And, if nothing else, we wouldn’t have the topic to discuss in years to come in the pub or in the park. The Gareth Southgate miss; the David Beckham calamity; the end of the world as we know it through one single throw of the dice.

To quote one Twitter user: “Penalty Shootouts are football’s great levellers. Don’t need to fix what’s not broken. We need an alternative to Sepp Blatter.” Well, that pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?

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• SteveCrickmore075

  I have often thought of that idea of a player taken off after every few minutes, myself..kind of like a big brother house or Republican primary season scenario!

• http://www.facebook.com/charles.thompson.3154 Charles Thompson

  Blimey. I wonder how people that are supposed to be connoisseurs of our famous game could describe a team as “lesser”. Where were all those purists when Chelsea lost the same competition to Manchester United in 2008? Or is the ECL supposed to be the preserve of only certain’privileged clubs? There’s nothing wrong with the penalty shoot-outs and there has been nothing wrong with it in t he past. 
  Have we forgotten so soon when in a World Cup semi-final match France scored twice before Germany levelled. If the Golden Goal had been in effect, France would have won as it were unfairly. 

• bishbashbong

  Why not have the shoot-out BEFORE the 30 minutes extra time.

  Whoever wins the shoot-out scores ‘half’ a goal. Then play the exta time.

  Or is that just too simple?

• http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=598952724 Ian Savage

  Brilliant blog! I absolutely agree. Football is about a variety of tactics and styles of play. From Barcelona winning the champions league in 2009/11 to Inter Milan in 2010, two very different teams and two very worthy winners. I enjoy the fact football is a multi-dimensional game, all teams don’t play the same! I enjoy the class of Xavi as well as the gusto and passion of Scott Parker!

• iam_efg

  NO OFF-SIDES DURING EXTRA TIME, that is the answer to a tie game after regulation time. The game will be more open and allow for the possibility of goals during extra time. Yes, it is disappointing to see a game end and be decided by penalty shots. Besides, off-sides is so controversial since sideline officials get it wrong so often.

• chrisnsmith

  AS your columnist admits the prospect of a shoot-out encourages negative football.
  It is a farce & robs the result of all significance except for those who only want to see ‘their’ team win & don’t care how.

• w_ever

  Have the penalty shoot out before the match, then play (with extra time if necessary).  At the end of extra time, if it’s a draw the winner of the shoot out is the winner. The game will then often hinge on one goal, but you wont have the sudden it’s over of the golden goal.

• w_ever

  Bishbashbong, hadnt seen your post. Excellent idea. Penalties after match before extra time.

• roysavage

  rubbish, just encourages defensive extra time. Might as well get rid of extra time.