Golden Goal

The golden goal is a method used in association football, ice hockey and field hockey to decide the winner of games in elimination matches which end in a draw after the end of regulation time. It is a type of sudden death. Golden goal rules allow the team that scores the first goal during extra time to be declared the winner. The game finishes when a golden goal is scored. Introduced formally in 1992, though with some history before that, the rule was abandoned from the majority of FIFA authorized games in 2004. The similar silver goal supplemented the golden goal between 2002 and 2004.

The golden goal is still used by at the FIFA Beach World Cup, in NCAA soccer games and by FIH sanctioned field hockey matches. A related concept is used in National Rugby League games. A similar golden goal rule is also used in all National Hockey League (NHL) overtime games (followed by a shootout if needed), however the term 'golden goal' is not used

Historical context

The first recorded use of the golden goal rule was during the final of the Cromwell Cup, the world's second ever football competition, at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1868, although the term golden goal was never used. The deciding goal was scored by the then newly formed team called The Wednesday, now known as Sheffield Wednesday.^[1] The golden goal was introduced due to perceived failings of other means of resolving a draw (tie) in round robin or knock-out tournaments where a winner is required. In particular, extra time periods can be tense and unentertaining as sides are too tired and nervous to attack, preferring to defend and play for penalties; whilst penalty shootouts are often described as based upon luck, and non-representative of football. The Golden Goal's public origins can be traced to a letter published in the Times newspaper in London on 16 April 1992, and FIFA introduced the golden goal rule in 1993. It was hoped that the golden goal would produce more attacking play during extra-time, and would reduce the number of penalty shootouts.

Rules

Football

Following a draw, two fifteen-minute halves of extra time are played. If any team scores a goal during extra time, that team becomes the winner and the game ends at once. The winning goal is known as the "golden goal." If there are no goals after both periods of extra time, a penalty shootout decides the game. If the teams are still tied after a penalty shootout then the game goes to sudden-death penalties, where each team takes one penalty each, until only one team scores, resulting in that team winning the game.

Field hockey

International field hockey tournaments such as the Hockey World Cup and Champions Trophy use golden goals to decide the winners of elimination matches. During these matches, golden goal extra time of 7½ minutes per half is played and if no golden goals are scored after both periods of extra time, a penalty stroke competition decides the game.

Ice hockey

The golden goal rule comes into use at the end of regulation of every regular season National Hockey League game where the score is tied. Five minutes of four-on-four sudden death overtime are played, with the first goal winning the game. Despite the fact that this is exactly how the golden goal rule usually works, this term is not used. If, however, neither team scores after this period, a shootout determines the winner. There is no shootout during the NHL playoff games, as multiple 20-minute OT periods are played, with whomever scoring winning it.

The Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament uses the golden goal rule only in the gold medal game, with a full 20 minutes of overtime. The game ends if a goal is scored; however, if no goals are scored, a penaly shootout will determine the winner. This method was used to determine the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics men's final, where Sidney Crosby scored the game winning goal. As this goal won Canada the Gold Medal, it has become known as "The Golden Goal."

Use in association football

The term golden goal was introduced by FIFA in 1993 along with the rule change because the alternative term, "sudden death", was perceived to have negative connotations. The golden goal was not compulsory, and individual competitions using extra time could choose whether to apply it during extra time. The first European Football Championship played with the rule was in 1996; the first World Cup played with the rule was in 1998.

The first golden goal recorded was in March 1993 by Australia against Uruguay in a quarter-final match at the FIFA World Youth Championships. Huddersfield Town's Iain Dunn became the first British player to settle a match in this way - his 107th-minute goal beat Lincoln City 3-2 in the Auto Windscreens Shield on 30 November 1994. The first major tournament final to be decided by such a goal was the 1995 Auto Windscreens Shield Final where Birmingham beat Carlisle United 1-0, followed by the 1996 European Football Championship, won by Germany over the Czech Republic. The golden goal in this final was scored by Oliver Bierhoff.

The first golden goal in World Cup history took place in 1998, as Laurent Blanc scored to enable France to defeat Paraguay in the Round of 16.

In the Preliminary Round of the 1994 Caribbean Cup, Barbados deliberately scored an own goal in a successful attempt to advance to the Final Stage by forcing golden-goal extra time against Grenada, as an unusual tournament rule awarded a two goal victory to a team that won in overtime. Needing a two goal victory to advance, Barbados found themselves up 2–1 with three minutes left in regulation time. After Grenada realized what had happened, they in turn tried to score against their own net while Barbados defended both goals for the final three minutes of the match. Barbados won the game in extra time and advanced to the next round.

In the 2002 season UEFA introduced a new rule, the silver goal, to decide a competitive match. In extra time the team leading after the first fifteen minute half would win, but the game would no longer stop the instant a team scored. Any goals in the second half would be counted as golden goals. Competitions that operated extra time would be able to decide whether to use the golden goal, the silver goal, or neither procedure during extra time. The only major competitive match to be decided by a silver goal was the semi-final match of Euro 2004 between Greece and the Czech Republic, when Traianos Dellas scored for Greece after a corner kick in the last two seconds of the first period of extra time. This was also the last ever professional silver goal

Abolition in football

The golden goal rule was introduced to stimulate offensive flair and to effectively reduce the number of penalty shootouts. However, it was widely thought that golden goal rules encouraged teams to play more defensively to safeguard against a loss. Teams often placed more emphasis on not conceding a goal rather than scoring a goal, and many golden-goal extra time periods remained scoreless. The silver goal also failed to please the IFAB, as it denied the losing team the chance of saving the match simply by virtue of when the goal is scored. The Euro 2004 semi-final best illustrated the point; if the Greek goal had been scored 15 seconds later, that is immediately after the extra-time interval (instead of the last two seconds of the first period of extra time), the Czechs would have had nearly 15 minutes to attempt to score the equalizer. Furthermore, one team could benefit unfairly if conditions, such as a strong wind, favoured attacking in one direction.

In February 2004, the IFAB announced that after Euro 2004 in Portugal, both the golden goal and silver goal methods would be removed from the Laws of the Game. The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany did not employ the golden goal in the event of a tied match during the knockout stage, but reverted to the previous rules: In the event of a tied game after the original 90 minutes, two 15-minute halves of extra time were played. Then, if a tie remained after the 30 minutes of extra time, the winner was decided by a penalty shootout.

First World Cup of Football

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body selected Uruguay as host nation as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its first constitution, and the Uruguay national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament.

Thirteen teams, seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America entered the tournament. Few European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of travelling to South America. The teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the United States, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history.

Argentina, Uruguay, United States and Yugoslavia each won their respective groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people, and became the first nation to win the World Cup.

In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic football tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event at the next three Olympiads: from 1920 to 1928. In the 1908 Olympic Games and the 1912 Olympic Games the football competitions had been organised by The Football Association and the Swedish Football Association respectively.

The preliminary schedule for the held in Los Angeles did not include football. FIFA and the International Olympic Committee disagreed over the status of amateur players, so association football was dropped from the Games. On 26 May 1928, at FIFA's Amsterdam conference and on the opening day of the Olympic football tournament, FIFA president Jules Rimet announced plans to stage a tournament independent of the Olympics, open to all FIFA members and with professionalism permitted. The membership voted 25–5 to accept the proposal.

Host selection

FIFA World Cup hosts

Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Uruguay all lodged applications to host the event. Uruguay's bid became the clear favourite for a number of reasons. Uruguay were reigning Olympic champions, and thus de facto world champions, the bid included plans to build a new stadium as a centrepiece, and the Uruguayan authorities also offered to refund the expenses of all participants. The other nations withdrew their bids, and Uruguay was chosen to host the tournament at a FIFA congress at Barcelona in 1929. A golden trophy known as "The Goddess of Victory" was commissioned from French sculptor Abel Lafleur.

Participants

For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 1930 FIFA World Cup squads.

Participating countries

The first World Cup was the only one without qualification. Every country affiliated with FIFA was invited to compete, and given a deadline of 28 February 1930 to accept. Plenty of interest was shown by nations in the Americas; Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and the United States all entered. A total of seven South American teams participated, more than in any subsequent World Cup Finals. However, because of the long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean, and the length of absence required for players, very few European teams were inclined to take part. Some refused to countenance travel to South America in any circumstances, and no European entries were received before the February deadline. In an attempt to gain some European participation, the Uruguayan Football Association sent a letter of invitation to The Football Association, even though the Home Nations were not members of FIFA at the time. This was rejected by the FA Committee on 18 November 1929. Two months before the start of the tournament, no team from Europe had officially entered.

Replica of the trophy awarded to the winners

We were 15 days on the ship Conte Verde getting out there. We embarked from Villefranche-sur-Mer in company of the Belgians and the Yugoslavians. We did our basic exercises down below and our training on deck. The coach never spoke about tactics at all ...

Lucien Laurent^[13]

FIFA president Rimet intervened, and eventually four European teams made the trip by sea: Belgium, France, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The Romanians, managed by Constantin Rădulescu and coached by their captain Rudolf Wetzer and Octav Luchide, entered the competition following the intervention of newly crowned King Carol II. He selected the squad personally, and negotiated with employers to ensure that the players would still have jobs upon their return.^[14] The French entered at the personal intervention of Rimet, but neither France's star striker Manuel Anatol nor the team's regular coach Gaston Barreau could be persuaded to make the trip. The Belgians participated at the instigation of FIFA vice-president Rudolf Seedrayers.

The Romanians boarded the SS Conte Verde at Genoa, the French were picked up at Villefranche-sur-Mer on 21 June 1930; and the Belgians embarked at Barcelona. The Conte Verde carried Rimet, the trophy and the three designated European referees: the Belgians Jean Langenus and Henri Christophe, along with Thomas Balway, a Parisien who may have been English. The Brazilian team were picked up when the boat docked in Rio de Janeiro on 29 June before arriving in Uruguay on 4 July. Yugoslavia travelled via the mail steamship Florida from Marseille.

Peru would not compete in another World Cup finals until 1970.

Venues

The Estadio Centenario hosted the majority of the tournament's matches.

All matches took place in Montevideo. Three stadiums were used: Estadio Centenario, Estadio Pocitos, and Estadio Parque Central. The Estadio Centenario was built both for the tournament and as a celebration of the centenary of Uruguayan independence. Designed by Juan Scasso,^[18] it was the primary stadium for the tournament, referred to by Rimet as a "temple of football".^[19] With a capacity of 90,000, it was the largest football stadium outside the British Isles.^[15] The stadium hosted 10 of the 18 matches, including both semi-finals and the final. However, a rushed construction schedule and delays caused by the rainy season meant the Centenario was not ready for use until five days into the tournament.^[6] Early matches were played at smaller stadiums usually used by Montevideo football clubs Nacional and Peñarol, the 20,000 capacity Parque Central and the Pocitos.

[edit] Format

The thirteen teams were drawn into four groups, with group 1 containing four teams, and the others containing only three. Each group played a round-robin format, with two points awarded for a win and one point for a draw. If two teams had tied on points to win a group, a play-off would have been used to decide the group winner; however this was not necessary. The four group winners progressed to the knockout semi-final stage. Extra-time was available in the knockout matches if the two teams were level after ninety minutes, but it was not required.

Draw

Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and the USA were seeded, and were kept apart in the draw,which took place in Montevideo once all the teams arrived.

Since there were no qualifying games, the opening two matches of the tournament were the first World Cup games ever played, taking place simultaneously on 13 July 1930; France beat Mexico 4–1 at the Estadio Pocitos, while the United States defeated Belgium 3–0 at the same time at the Estadio Gran Parque Central. France's Lucien Laurent was the scorer of the first World Cup goal.