Extra time might be booted out

Blatter unhappy with defensive mindset of teams during WC in SA

Blatter said in an interview with FIFA's web site (www.fifa.com) that too many teams had played defensively at the World Cup in South Africa and football’s governing body would look at ways of encouraging more attacking tactics.  "We plan to take the opportunity to look at the concept of extra time," said Blatter, whose remarks differed slightly from an interview he gave to the German magazine Focus last month when he said penalty shootouts could even be used after drawn group matches.

"Often we see teams set themselves up even more defensively in extra time, in an attempt to avoid conceding a goal at all costs.

"To prevent this, we could go directly to a penalty shootout at full time, or reintroduce the golden goal rule. We'll see what emerges from the committee meetings."  Blatter did not discuss penalty shootouts, which many feel are a lottery and devalue the sport, leaving a lasting stigma on the player who misses the decisive kick.

FIFA has so far declined to consider alternatives to shootouts, such as using the corner count to decide drawn matches and reducing the number of players on the field in extra time to open up the game.

The golden goal rule, in which the first goal to be scored in extra time won the match, was used at the 1996 and 2000 European championships and the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
Intended to encourage attacking play, it turned out to be counter-productive as the fear of conceding a decisive goal prompted teams to use blanket defence.