This article is written in the spirit of Fair Play and does not, in any way, attempt to diminish the merits of any participating team in the 2022 World Cup.
But it must be said that the penalty shootout is unfair and unjust. It is meant to decide a tiebreak between two teams at the end of a football match lasting 90 minutes, plus additional time of several minutes, and a prolongation of another 30 minutes. The Penalty Shootout is like the ‘sudden death’ application.
It is cruel to expect five players from each team who have slogged themselves for 120 minutes+ on the field, each team still recording an even score at the end of the game including additional time and extra time, to exert themselves further. These players – under immense mental and physical pressure – are, in turn, expected to successfully shoot the ball into the net of the opponents with a dancing keeper in the post.
From whatever angle we look at professional football, it is still a career for the players to earn a living. It is a form of employment, and no employment can expect employees to subject themselves to such a degree of physical extremes and torment. Who is responsible for such an abuse of human endurance though all parties concerned agree to “play the game” and abide by the rules of the game? The penalty shootout rule is an abuse of human capacity and should be scrapped. Even horses receive better treatment. Two runners in a race reaching the finishing post, neck to neck, are not expected to run a few additional furlongs to determine a winner. Both horses are ranked as winners.
In this day and age, there must be a more civilised way to deal with a dead heat or ex-aequo situation following a tiebreak rather than the penalty shootout which can be equated to a game of chance or to a short straw draw (tirer à la courte paille) to decide on a winner. Can it be said that there is no glory in this sort of victory? All manifestations to revel in such a victory can be seen as indecent, just as the Argentinian keeper holding his trophy as extension of his male organ.
Two Champions
During the recent World Cup Finals both France and Argentina fought most honourably for the Champion title. Both ended the match on the score of a 3-3 draw, even after going into extra time. Both teams, in their own right and jointly, deserve the title. In trying to separate them into a winner and a loser, a great
injustice has been done to France. Such a situation causes a lot of distress to a well deserving team and to the players who did their utmost best to deliver a great game ever. The Argentina team was received in great pomp at home. The Argentinian players and the nation were over the moon. Messi was welcomed as a messiah, especially at the time of the year.
The French people also gave a well-deserving welcome to the French squad returning home from Qatar. While all the other French team mates were happy to acknowledge the welcome from the nation, the distress on Kilyan MBappe’s face was there for everyone to see. He almost hid from the welcoming public his Golden Boot trophy which he had in his hand, so sad was he. He knew that an injustice had been done to the outstanding performance of the French players by the ‘sudden death’ scenario that concluded a memorable game.
Lionel Messi has been hailed in some quarters as the ‘Best Player of ALL TIME’, and yet – ironically – it’s was Kilyan Mbappe who won the ‘Golden Boot’ trophy and was crowned the Best Player of the 2022 World Cup. The other irony of this great event is that Saudi Arabia beat Argentina by 2-1 on 22 November 2022. Saudi Arabia can proudly claim that its national team beat the World Champion.
Can those experts on the FIFA Council, in their wisdom, find an alternative answer to such an unpalatable situation and to such injustice we witnessed in December 2022? As there were two champions, would not it be appropriate for the organisers to be prepared to offer a trophy to each champion? This would be Fair Play in every sense. On the other hand, there are those who believe that the Cup should be kept by each team for a period of two years until the next tournament. Someone has mentioned “Replay”, but this may not be a practical option as there could be too many replays.
Under the ‘sudden death’ scenario it can be said that the penalty shootout is a Victory without Glory for the winners: Une Victoire sans Gloire!
A copy of this article has been mailed to Mr Didier Deschamps, Stade de France, 93216 Saint-Denis, France
And to Mr Gianni Infantino, Président de Football Association, FIFA Strasse 20, P.O Box 8044 Zurich, Switzerland.
