Chapter 35 The Golden Ball System and the Silver Ball System

According to FIFA rules, players have a 10-minute break before extra time, during which they are free to move around, but they are not allowed to leave the pitch or return to the dressing room.

The players of the Brazilian team and Italy took advantage of these ten minutes, all of them were massaged by the team doctor or teammates on the sidelines, after 90 minutes of fierce battle, the young players were already exhausted, and there were still 30 minutes of fierce battle, and every second of the sideline break was very precious to them.

Descartes also sat on the sidelines, and due to his position in the team and physical reasons, the team's team doctor personally massaged him, and the rest of the team had to ask their teammates to help each other.

Taking advantage of the gap of ten minutes, Mr. Roca came to the middle of the players on the field and gave his final encouragement: "Good job, children, but you can't relax, there are still 30 minutes left in the game, I want you to be more focused on defense in these 30 minutes, don't concede goals." ”

As soon as he said that, the Italian players understood the tone of extra time: defense.

This is the magic weapon that the Italians rely on to survive in international football, so the young players did not say anything, and even Descartes did not give an opinion. Although he would love to continue attacking, he also understands that neither Italy nor Brazil will have the stamina to continue running for 30 minutes, and perhaps it would be better for both sides to be conservative and wait until the end to bet on roulette.

Some people may wonder why it is necessary to play the full 30 minutes in extra time, so why is it necessary to play the full 30 minutes?

In fact, as early as April 2002, FIFA had abolished the Golden Ball and Silver Ball system in extra time and returned to the traditional format.

Not to mention how many classics have been left behind in overtime in the traditional format, let's first take a look at the two formats of the Golden Ball system and the Silver Ball system.

At the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the Argentines abandoned their attacking tradition and adopted the guiding ideology of "counter-attacking" to knock out the most famous Brazil and Yugoslavia in the knockout stages, and twice used penalties to make it all the way to the final, and finally they set an embarrassing record - they scored only five goals in seven games, but became the runners-up of that World Cup.

Since then, FIFA has been considering more ways to encourage attacking and increase the spectatorship of the game, especially in extra-time, where two conservative teams will certainly make the game boring.

And in the 1992 European Championship in Sweden, the Danes took this "counter-attack" idea to the extreme, perhaps people have the impression that Denmark has such offensive players as Laudrup, and their games should be very good, but Denmark in the world has adopted an extreme defensive counterattack strategy, and their core is Manchester United's great goalkeeper Sumechel.

As a result, the Danes used defense and penalties to kill England, France, the Netherlands, and Germany along the way, and finally created the "Danish fairy tale" that shocked the world.

And it was after this tournament that UEFA and FIFA were determined to change something in extra-time so that more active and motivated teams could get more opportunities.

So in the 1993 U20 World Youth Championships, the "Golden Ball System" was born.

In the quarter-finals between hosts Australia and Uruguay, the Australians scored the first "Golden Goal" in world football, thus making extra time even more exciting and intense.

It is worth mentioning that at that World Youth Championship, FIFA also allowed throw-ins with the foot, but the effect was very bad and it was abolished after the game.

But the Ballon d'Or was retained and made a big splash at Euro 1996.

Many people may remember that in the summer of '96, the Czech "golden generation" was unstoppable. Nedved, Rosicky, Barosh, Poboski, Nemechek, Smitchell...... The Czech team was full of talent and talent, and they brought fans a highly spectacle tournament that made Chinese fans who stayed up late to watch the game addicted.

But people also remember that it was such a vigorous and promising Czech team, but it was destroyed by the spicy Germans in the final and killed with one stab!

The German team of that year can be called green and yellow, and the twilight is gloomy, with Kopke, Koller, Sauer, Hasler, Klinsmann, Bierhoff, and the average age of the main squad of the German team is already above 30 years old!

But it was such a German team that was called the twilight of the mountains, and it was Bierhoff, who was 29 years old at the time, who sent the Czech team into the abyss with a "golden goal" in the fourth minute of extra time.

Since then, the Czechs have never shown that they have what it takes to climb out of the doldrums, and the once-talented European team has been lost to the world.

This "golden ball" can be said to be the most impressive "sudden death" in the world.

Then there was the 1/4 match between South Korea, the host of the 02 World Cup, against the Italian team, not to mention what the Koreans did in that World Cup, but Ahn Jung-hwan pressed Maldini to score the winning "golden goal", but it also carved an eternal scar in the hearts of Italians.

After this match, Italy mourned the whole country, scolding the South Koreans for the shady scenes, and at the same time lashing out at the "sudden death law".

Because the "sudden death law" was so cruel, in 2002, the European Football Association introduced the "Silver Ball System".

The silver ball system stipulates that in extra time, the two sides of the game win with the side with the most goals in 15 minutes, if the two sides are still tied within 15 minutes, then play another 15 minutes, or the side with the most goals wins, but if it is still a draw, then it can only be life and death.

The format seems a little more human, and at least gives you a full 15 or 30 minutes to redeem yourself, but it's been resisted by more people.

At Euro 2004, UEFA adopted the "Silver Ball System".

In the semi-finals at the Dragon Stadium, the Czech Republic conceded a goal in the last minute of first-half extra time and was beaten 1:0 by the Greek team!

Czech, Czech, Czech.

Eight years ago, the Czechs died in the first "Golden Ball" in the history of the European Championship, and eight years later they died in the first "Silver Ball" in the history of the European Cup, counting 28 years ago, the Czechs defeated the Germans 10-9 in the first European Championship where the penalty shootout was held, and the Czech Republic was lucky to become the first team to "enjoy" all three formats.

However, after the game, this format was not accepted by everyone, so UEFA finally decided to abolish it, and at the same time abolished the "Golden Ball System" and restored the traditional format.

Both the Golden Ball and the Silver Ball are the efforts of FIFA and UEFA to encourage attacks and increase the number of spectators, but they have not been retained in the end for various reasons, which has to be said to be a big regret in world football.

Therefore, in the 2005 World Junior Championships, there is no such thing as a "Golden Ball" or "Silver Ball", and this World Junior Championship implements a traditional format, regardless of the score, you must play for 30 minutes.

While this format may seem warm, it's also the culprit that makes it easy for both sides to become conservative.

Especially in this game, the Brazilians and Italians had the same idea, so the whole extra time looked lifeless, and even the fans on the sidelines felt a little drowsy.

The Brazilians would have preferred to exchange penalties with Italy.

In world football, Brazil have a reputation as the "King of Penalties" and have not lost a penalty in a World Series for 20 years, with the exception of a 5-3 defeat to Uruguay in the 1993 Copa America.

Of course, you can also say that this is because they did not meet the Germans with iron nerves, but the German team was in the throes of a new and old metabolism around 2005, although they set off a "youth storm" under the leadership of Klinsmann and Loew, but in fact, I personally think that the iron spirit of the Germans is gradually losing from the Germans, and the gorgeous replacement of the former perseverance, whether this is good or not, I have a later comment.

In short, the Brazilian team will definitely not be afraid to turn the roulette wheel with Italy, a "penalty underdog".

So Italy defended, and Brazil also defended, and for a full 30 minutes, the two sides finally tacitly stood on the penalty spot.

Penalty kicks have never been the Italians' strong suit, the Germans, the French, the Argentines and even the Spaniards, once known as the "soft sister team", have a record of bullying Italians with penalty kicks, and perhaps the only thing that can keep the Italian team superior is the Dutch, who have already taken penalties and have been mentally ill.

Although the Italian national team has not yet experienced the pain of life and death in the penalty shootout, they have already felt this huge pressure.

According to Mr. Roca's arrangement, the final list of the Italian team is Foti, Mandolini, Palermo, Bivio, Descartes, if the five rounds are not scored, the next will be Greco, Angruzzi, Cremonesi, as for Silvestri, who has always had a bad psychological quality, he was even ranked behind the goalkeeper Perrin.

Putting Descartes in the fifth free throw shows how much Mr. Rocca values him. But in fact Descartes was now as pale as his teammates, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

After a coin toss, the Italian team was lucky to get the right to take the penalty first, which was a good sign for the young players, because the pressure would be transferred to the Brazilian side, so they looked a little more relaxed, just gathered around and silently blessed Foti who was the first to play.

As a player who has already played in Serie B, he is no stranger to penalty kicks, and he also pays attention to details, how many people slipped and fell on the penalty spot, and how many people shot anti-aircraft guns because of the uneven grass, he knows very well in his heart.

And the action of cleaning the lawn is actually giving the opposing goalkeeper an invisible pressure.

What is the most fearful thing when people are nervous? It's waiting. When you face a black hole pointed at you but never fire, your heart is actually the most difficult, sometimes you even wish that the other party would kill you directly with a shot, at least you don't have to accept the torment of waiting.

And Italy's goalkeeper Felipe is in such a mood right now.

As Forti slowly tidied up the lawn opposite, Felipe felt his heart jump out of his chest, and after a few seconds he felt as if he had been waiting for a century, so he appealed to the referee: "Sir, he's wasted a lot of time!" ”

The referee motioned for him to be calm, then walked over to Futi and said a few words, and Futi finished cleaning the lawn and retreated a few steps away from the ball.

It's a sign to use the run-up to hit the goal hard.

Felipe lowered his body nervously and crouched on the goal line like a stone statue, dealing with such a shot, except for gambling on luck, there is almost no good way, no goalkeeper can rely on reaction to come first under such a powerful shot.

Futi's shot came out like a cannonball, but Felipe's luck didn't seem to be good today, he made the wrong save, and the ball flew into the net without any suspense.

1:0, the pressure has been successfully transferred to the Brazilian.

Foti returned to midfield to clapping his team-mates in celebration while bringing the sound of laughter to the Brazilian.

In penalty shoot-outs, psychological warfare is everywhere and the Italian playfulness can also put a lot of pressure on the Brazilians.

Brazil's first player was their striker Igor, who didn't score many goals, but had excellent mental qualities, and his composure made coach Nelson more than Anderson's frizz. Mr. Rodriguez is reassured.

Igor's appearance lived up to expectations, and he also scored the penalty under intense pressure to help Brazil and Italy get back on the same page.

The second Italian player to make the appearance was Mandolini. The youngster's confidence was boosted by the fact that he had been on the bench from the bench at the World Junior Championships, and the penalty was not missed and was firmly into the bottom left corner of the Brazilian team.

Once again, the Brazilians will have to fight back against their backwardness.

This time it was Anderson who came out, and it seems that although he is the top scorer of the Brazilian team, his impatient surname is not liked by the manager, and he is placed in second place, which is also the position with the least psychological pressure on him.

Anderson took a deep breath and glanced at Descartes with a defiant look in his eyes before walking to the penalty spot, he didn't score anything in this game, but Descartes scored a valuable goal for Italy, and he thought that in the first 120 minutes of the game, he was temporarily behind Descartes, so he had to respond to the penalty kick.

Anderson put the ball in penalty and stepped back a long way, giving Italian goalkeeper Perrin the illusion that he was about to hit the ball hard. In fact, he has already made up his mind, and after the opponent's goalkeeper pounces, he will use a light "spoon" shot to tease the opponent, which can not only show his footwork, but also become the talk of many media after the game.

Lo and behold, this is Anderson who played the Italians with a "spoon penalty"!

With a hint of a smile on his lips, Anderson began to run beautifully. At the same time, Perrin on the opposite side looked at his ankle with a serious face, which is the secret of Perrin's penalty kick, by observing the opponent's ankle to determine the direction of the ball's shot.

Of course, this trick doesn't always work, but it's become a habit for Perrin, so he always does it subconsciously.

Anderson's run-up suddenly slowed down at the moment when he was about to touch the ball, and at this time, Palin's pupils narrowed into a line, and his ankles opened outward! This is a precursor to shoot with the arch of the foot!

Perrin lunged down his right, and then he saw the playful smile on Anderson's face, the instep sinking slightly, and the ball was flown into the air.

Fooled?!