Euro 2020 final: there are better ways than penalties to decide a football match | Letters
19-Jul-2021 11:00:57 | Guardian
After England’s loss to Italy in a penalty shootout, readers suggest possible improvements to the beautiful game
Now that the dust is settling on Euro 2020, this is an opportune moment to consider whether there is not a better way to decide the winner of a knockout football match than the present penalty shootout, or at least to make its necessity less frequent. The penalty method places an unreasonable responsibility on the individual players, as is all too apparent at the moment, and is not necessarily a fair reflection of the preceding match nor of the overall footballing skills of the two teams.
A decision based on the total number of fouls committed by each side or of the number of corners kicked would produce a result better reflecting the run of play throughout the game, but would probably cause unforeseeable changes to the style of football played. However, increasing the width of the goal would lead to more goals in a match and therefore make a draw and shootout less likely. And think how the greater incentive to attack would improve the spectacle of the beautiful game.
Roger Marshall
Blackheath, London
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