Time to bring the golden goal back to EURO

Exactly 20 years since its first introduction at EURO 1996, the golden goal rule deserves to be considered for reintroduction to recreate the drama of football.

In the 95th minute of the first extra time of the EURO 1996 final between Germany and the Czech Republic, German striker Oliver Bierhoff received the ball in the 16m50 box. He pressed down and suddenly turned around to shoot a tricky shot with his left foot that goalkeeper Petr Kouba could not catch and the ball slowly rolled into the net. The Germans were elated because that goal brought them the championship, and Bierhoff made history as the first player to score a golden goal. Today is also the 20th anniversary of that goal.

It would be remiss not to mention the French, the hosts of this year's EURO, for their use of the golden goal. At the 1998 World Cup, centre-back Laurent Blanc scored against Paraguay in the 113th minute of the knockout round of 16, while David Trezeguet brought the EURO 2000 title to France with a golden goal against Italy in the final.

Proposed in 1993 by the International Football Association Board, the golden goal, or “sudden death,” was supposed to counteract the stifling play of some teams in extra time. The logic behind the golden goal theory was that if one goal could decide everything, both teams would fight for it. However, after more than a decade, the rule was deemed irrelevant and was scrapped.

Bierhoff's golden goal in the EURO 1996 final

Those who argue against the golden goal argue that there are more ways to end a game than with a goal. In many cases, teams prefer to play safe in their own half first, then go for the goal, rather than going for it from the start. The stakes of a goal are so high that even the best players will start with a sure-fire mentality.

Currently, the way to resolve a knockout match that ends in a draw after 90 minutes is 30 minutes of extra time, followed by a penalty shootout if the score remains the same. However, this has its own frustrations.

In fact, there are still teams that consider extra time as a survival time rather than a decisive battle, especially for small teams when facing the "big guys". The fateful nature of penalty shootouts makes the "shovel" option to drag each other into this way of determining the winner a safer bet.

Even the most highly rated teams have their moments of frustration in extra time. In the round of 16 of EURO 2016, the extra 30 minutes of Poland-Switzerland were nothing but passing before the penalty shootout called Poland’s name. Furthermore, Portugal and Croatia also dragged each other into extra time and lulled the audience to sleep for 27 minutes before Ricardo Quaresma’s decisive goal.

Quaresma sends Croatia home with a golden goal

In the context of this year's EURO honoring defensive counter-attacking football with Iceland, Wales and Italy being the best representatives, the prospect of football fans continuing to nod in agreement during the 30 minutes of extra time in the upcoming quarter-finals is entirely possible.

Another reason why the golden goal will be the savior of football quality at this year's EURO is because the big teams will not put much faith in the penalty shootout, after a series of famous names such as Mesut Oezil, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos or Granit Xhaka were stopped from the 11m mark since the beginning of the tournament. The thing to affirm class is certainly not luck. That is the moment when unique tactics, the spirit of a big team or star quality will reign.

To make the golden goal rule more effective, perhaps an extra substitution in extra time would be the perfect addition. This is entirely reasonable, because at EURO this year, many players came off the bench to score, typically Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge in England 2-1 Wales, Milan Skoda in Croatia 2-2 Czech Republic, Bastian Schweinsteiger in Germany 2-0 Ukraine, Hal Robson-Kanu in Wales 2-1 Slovakia and Zoltan Stieber in Hungary 2-0 Austria.

Sturridge came on to score the winning goal for England in a 2-1 victory over Wales

Sidney Crosby sent Canadians into a frenzy when he scored the golden goal in the ice hockey final between Canada and the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics. That's exactly the kind of celebration soccer fans deserve these days, at EURO 2016.

Is it more painful to fall because of a shot or a fateful mistake in extra time than to lose on a lucky penalty kick? No one knows for sure. But at least it will be a story of the whole team fighting for a single goal, instead of putting the fate of 23 people on a pair of legs that are shaking under pressure...

According to bongdaplus.vn