28/05/05 - Must football keep paying the penalty?

Maybe football is just too much of a big deal these days for teams to take risks in major finals. Winning is everything and losing is nothing. The stakes are so high and the results are so important that some clubs just can't contemplate failure anymore. The sums of money flying around in the modern game have become the be all and end all for many greedy, fat-cat club chairmen who need guaranteed success to earn back the money they have already spent on transfer fees and wage bills. Managers know that if they can't deliver, they'll face the sack, and under performing players at top clubs know that there's a bench full of internationals ready to take their place.

Perhaps this is why so many of the major finals these days peter out into dull stalemates with each side frustrating the other in an attempt to prolong their chances of lifting the trophy. Nobody wants to blink first and risk being saddled with the blame for messing everything up when they've come so close to victory. Of course, not all drawn finals are tedious goalless affairs, as Liverpool's recent Champions League win has shown, but the undeniable trend is for major finals to be settled by the lottery of penalties.

We had the first ever World Cup final shoot-out in the USA in 1994 after a typically drab encounter between Brazil and Italy where neither team seemed particularly concerned about winning the actual game, and we've just had the first FA Cup final shoot-out in history. The Champions League has now been settled in this way on 8 of the last 22 occasions - a staggering 36.4% of the time - and the third major final this week also went to penalties, FC Copenhagen defeating IFK Gothenburg to win the inaugural Scandinavian Royal League after a 1-1 draw.

Why teams sit back and wait for penalties is beyond my comprehension. Do they think that if they lose on penalties they have not really lost? That they can say 'we drew the game and didn't deserve to lose'. That teams who lose shoot-outs are always seen as unlucky? You never have more than a 50% chance of winning a shoot-out, but if, during extra-time, you attack the opposition and take the game to them surely you will have a higher chance of influencing the result. All to often, teams appear happy to settle for penalties and then complain about them when they have lost.

However, even if, at the end of 120 minutes of football the two teams can't be separated and there is absolutely no chance of having a replay, there must still be a better way of finding a winner. Penalties have little to do with football; the best players in the world can miss them. Even those who are capable of putting the ball in the top corner from 30 yards cannot always do it from 12 yards, and goalkeepers who have had a dreadful game can suddenly become heroes. What's more, if one team has dominated the game, piled on the pressure and outplayed the opposition, they will be sure to lose the spot kick competition. Such is the injustice of the current system.

There are a number of measures that could be taken before penalties are used as a last resort to force a result. Firstly, a panel of officials could use television evidence to look back over the game and examine any incorrect refereeing decisions. For example, if a team had a goal incorrectly ruled out it could be reinstated and similarly, if one of the goals scored should have been disallowed it could be chalked off. Obviously these would have to be purely objective decisions agreed unanimously by three or more judges and should only affect incidents missed by the referee. Any penalties that should have been awarded but weren't could be taken after the game too.

Secondly, previous results in the competition could be looked at. After all, in a knock-out tournament you are expected to beat all your opponents in order to prevail. Therefore, if a team which has already gone through on penalties in an earlier round draws with a team that has actually overcome all their opponents through beating them at football then the latter team should go through. Who could possibly complain about that? And thirdly, a corner count could be taken into account in order to avert the dreaded penalties. I know it's an unpopular idea and it has been around for a long time, but I'm not suggesting that the team with the most corners should win the game. We all know statistics can lie and the corner count doesn't necessarily reflect the balance of the game. But what if one team has had at least ten corners more than the other? Perhaps it would be fair enough to award drawn cup finals to teams that have achieved ten corners more than their opponents. If all these measures still can't separate two teams then it may be that penalties are the only remaining solution.

02/01/05 - About a Ball Awards 2004

Once again the time has come for the end-of-year honours to be handed out and once again we see why there is only one award that really matters, namely the About a Ball Award. The AABA is indeed the top accolade, the football purist's award, a peerless thoroughbred among annual honours. It derives its unrivalled prestige from the fact that, unlike other 'top' awards, the recipients are chosen exclusively by people who know and understand world football i.e. the staff of About a Ball.

Whilst most awards are voted for by a questionable panel of 'experts' and often produce some strange results, the AABA's genuinely recognise the top performers in each calendar year and are now well established as the ultimate achievement for a player or team. As ever, we have thought long and hard about our selections for 2004 and, as ever, we can fully justify each decision. Congratulations to all our winners.

The Player of the Year Award for 2004 goes to Andriy Shevchenko of AC Milan and the Ukraine. The striker has come close in the past but has always suffered from a lack of success with his national team. This year there were signs that this may be about to change as he scored four goals in four games for the Ukraine to give them a great start in their World Cup qualifying campaign. He once again finished top scorer in Serie A and helped his club to the Italian championship before starting this season in a similar vein of form. Champions League success eluded him but he has performed consistently at that level throughout the year. Of the other contenders, Deco came closest for his input into Porto's trophy-laden season and Portugal's run at Euro 2004, not to mention his glorious form at Barcelona.

The Coach of the Year was unquestionably Greece's German manager Otto Rehhagel. A tactical genius and master of organisation, he superbly marshalled a mediocre group of players all the way to the final of Euro 2004 and then had the audacity to carry off the trophy from under the noses of his Portuguese hosts. Greece started the tournament as rank outsiders but surprised everyone, showing what can be achieved with a bit of hard work and discipline. Rehhagel's team gelled perfectly and his defence - the foundation of his success - was absolutely rock solid. Jose Mourinho again came close to this award but Rehhagel's achievements were far more spectacular considering the quality of the players at his disposal.

For the first time ever, an About a Ball Award has been retained, and that speaks volumes about the success FC Porto have enjoyed. For a club of their size to win the Champions League is a truly remarkable achievement and when that is combined with another domestic championship, a cup final and the World Club Championship the feat absolutely demands recognition. Porto finished the calendar year again at the top of the Portuguese league and still in the Champions League despite the departure of their manager and several top players.

Despite an inconsistent year at club level, Wayne Rooney is head and shoulders above the other contenders for our Young Player of the Year award. The 19 year old lit up Euro 2004 with some dazzling displays and looked like leading England to the trophy until he was cruelly sidelined by a foot injury. His four goals were all fine finishes and he tormented opposition defences tirelessly from the off in every game he played. Rarely has one player made such an impact on an international tournament, especially at such a young age. The highlight of his club season was his spectacular debut for Manchester United in the Champions League, scoring an impressive hat-trick and he has showed signs of recapturing his best form once he settles in with his new team mates.

The final award is the one that is unique to About a Ball - the Old Player of the Year award and for the third year running it has gone to an Italian. Valencia's Amedeo Carboni is comfortably the oldest outfield player currently plying his trade in the major European leagues and at 39 he is still at the very top of his profession. The fullback began his career over 20 years ago in 1984 with Arezzo in Serie B and is now in his eighth season with Valencia in Spain. In 2004 he played 33 games as they won the Spanish championship and played 11 more as they won the UEFA Cup. He capped it all by winning the European Super Cup against Porto in August. Carboni has played well over 600 league and European games in his career, scoring only nine goals - he hasn't scored for five years!

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