Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

West Germany - Austria: the sequel

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    West Germany - Austria: the sequel

    Romania met France last night in their final group game in the U21 Euros. Only three group winners plus best second placed team go through to the semi finals. A draw would take both these teams though. Result: 0-0. Officially recorded shots on goal from both sides: 0.

    #2
    I have to say here that I didn't see the game myself and my information sources are anecdotal. But it appears neither side were busting a gut to get a result and the '82 carve up became an instinctive reference to those who did watch it.

    Comment


      #3
      12 team tournaments should be increased to 16, implemented retrospectively with all qualifying group winners either going through automatically or securing a play off

      Comment


        #4
        Agreed. The tournament set up here made this kind of situation all too inevitable. Still leaves an unsavoury taste, though. Can't help but think that any cries of foul play from the Italian hosts - whose own U21 team went out as a result of the draw - might be considered a little ironic too.

        Comment


          #5
          kicker's report suggesrts that thergamewas nit a fgux, until the latter stages. Romania especially seemed interested in attacking.

          Apparently next tournament will be stocked up to 16 sides, with four groups of four.

          Comment


            #6
            I don't really see why this should be a problem. It's not uncommon for a team to play for a draw if such a result is sufficient to meet their aims and isn't a practice that is frowned upon. Unless there is evidence of collusion, I imagine this is just a situation in which, as a draw happens to be adequate for both teams, a game lacking attacking intention inevitably results.

            Comment


              #7
              The highlights on youtube suggest both sides went forward on occasions at least, they didn't just stroll around. Romania in partivular had no need of any real urgency, they'd have gone through as best runners-up even if France had won by two clear goals.

              Comment


                #8
                Last night's Copa America game between Ecuador and Japan was a sort of anti-West Germany v Austria.

                Either team needed to win to reach the quarter-final. They drew and Paraguay went through instead.

                Comment


                  #9
                  See the Badminton 'scandal' at the 2012 Olympics where a shock result in another pool led to four pairs playing to lose to stay out of the same half of the draw as the no.1 seeds. In that case it was the authorities fault for creating a competition structure with perverse rewards (not that CAS saw it that way) that made not winning a particular stage the best route to overall victory. Sounds like the same in Italy. And of course it's hilarious that the Italians would complain - as if their team would have done any different!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Pity it didn't end up like this Barbados vs Grenada match:

                    From Wikipedia:

                    The 1994 Caribbean Cup was the fifth edition of the Caribbean Cup and was played in Trinidad and Tobago. Qualification took place in various other locations around the Caribbean in early 1994. Barbados, Grenada, and Puerto Rico were drawn into Group 1. Tournament organizers had decided that any matches where the score was tied at the end of the normal 90 minutes should go to extra-time, with a golden goal to count as double. On January 23, the round-robin tournament kicked off in Barbados, with the home team falling 0–1 to Puerto Rico. Two days later, Grenada defeated Puerto Rico 2–0 after a golden goal in extra-time. This put Grenada at the top of the group with three points and a +2 goal difference. Thus, the only way that Barbados could advance to the finals would be if they could beat Grenada by a margin of at least two goals.

                    The match started off routinely, and Barbados scored two goals, establishing the two-goal winning margin they needed. In the 83rd minute, however, the game changed when Grenada scored a goal. This late goal would take Grenada through to the finals unless Barbados could score again. Barbados attempted to score for the next few minutes, but because they were unable to, they switched to a different strategy, of tying up the game so that they could try to achieve the two-goal margin in extra-time. In the 87th minute they stopped attacking, and the defender Terry Sealey and the goalkeeper Horace Stoute passed the ball between each other before Sealey intentionally scored an own goal.

                    Now the game was at 2–2, with just three minutes of normal time left. The Grenadian players caught on to Barbados's plan, and realized that they would advance in the tournament by scoring a goal in either net. This left the match in the highly unusual position of no clear side of the field for one team versus the other, but rather one team trying to score a goal in either net, and the other team trying to defend both. For the next three minutes, Barbadian players successfully defended both sides. Still tied at 2–2, the game went on to extra-time, where the winning "Golden Goal" would count double — so Barbados only had to score once to qualify for the 1994 Caribbean Cup. Thorne scored the winner for Barbados and they advanced to the next round. The score was 4-2 yet they had only scored 3

                    In a press conference after the game, Grenadian manager James Clarkson said: "I feel cheated. The person who came up with these rules must be a candidate for a madhouse. The game should never be played with so many players running around the field confused. Our players did not even know which direction to attack: our goal or their goal. I have never seen this happen before. In football, you are supposed to score against the opponents to win, not for them".

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X