I'm going to talk more about this

 

I've been meaning and hoping to talk about this issue for probably years.  But the World Cup is going on now, and in a few hours the round of 16 will start.  That's the knockout stage, where one team has to win.  And in soccer/football, sometimes that's a problem, because soccer/football is a low-scoring sport.  And so, after playing 90 regular minutes + stoppage time, and then 30 overtime minutes + stoppage time, if the score is still tied, the hard-fought match will be decided by ...

... penalty kicks.

And I think that's the main thing wrong with soccer/football: the way major championships are decided. Numerous championships have been decided this way, and it seems to be such a low-excitement way to end what should be a very exciting sporting event.

I have a better idea, and shortly I will finally state it.

Meanwhile, my example is the Major League Soccer MLS Cup championship game, which was settled by ... 

... penalty kicks.

LAFC 3-3 Philadelphia (3-0 on penalties): Ilie Sanchez scores the decisive penalty to win a thrilling MLS Cup, with Gareth Bale scoring a 129th minute EQUALIZER after his goalkeeper got sent off for making a tackle that broke his own LEG

Well, OK, that was a bit more interesting.  There were actually six goals, and two in the overtime, including Bale's late header.  But that isn't always the case. The interestingness of this game could be due to the slightly lower level of skill at the MLS level compared to the World Cup, because more skill means better defense and that means less goal scoring, usually.

So I will provide my idea in the next few posts.

Hint ... it's about overtime.