How long is extra time in soccer? It's a question often asked by the sly neighborhood kid after realizing his or her team is losing. It’s the same kid who owns the ball and threatens to take the ball back inside and end all the fun. Luckily for you, we went the extra mile to explain this seemingly intuitive question, and for anyone who doesn’t know this already: you're not a noob, not at all.
ESPN released a Luck Index for the EPL, a joint project with tech company Intel that supposedly examines “how the Premier League would look if luck were not a factor.”
Conducted by England’s University of Bath, ESPN aims to both galvanize the beautiful game with this pseudo-scientific study and pollute the culture of football by turning it into a maniacal math project.
The index states the following metric as the definitive measure of luck:
If you’re one of the thousands that’s typed “How does ref decide when to end soccer match” into Google, don’t worry, you’re in fine company. One former manager who's probably completed that inquiry himself is the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. His famous quip regarding how refs decide to end the match is that the refs have absolutely no clue.
Why soccer players flop. It’s a question that arises every World Cup, every club campaign, every Champions League season. It’s a debate that will rage on until VAR is universal. As we’ll explain, the reason why soccer players flop comes down to one simple factor — but we have three ways to stop the flop.
Flopping, or simulation in official FIFA terminology, is the process of embellishing a foul or pretending to be fouled when none was committed in an attempt to deceive the referee. A referee who spots simulation can punish the offender with a yellow card.
Croatia players and manager Zlatko Dalic were gracious in defeat yesterday, admitting that France deserved the victory following second half goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. However, the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic still left traces of disgust and defiance in their words when discussing the final’s turning points, particularly the VAR-assisted handball call against Ivan Perisic that sent Antoine Griezmann to the spot in the 38th minute.
The Russia World Cup goes full circle as Argentinian referee Néstor Pitana is cast as the leading arbitrator in the France vs. Croatia World Cup final in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The 43-year-old physical education teacher, probably the most successful gym teacher of all time, will be aided by two more Argentinians Hernan Maidana and Juan Pablo Belatti with the Dutch Bjorn Kuipers as the fourth World Cup final referee.
When Miguel Layún stepped on Neymar’s leg during their Round of 16 matchup, the Brazilian star immediately kicked out at the Mexican offender. Almost as quickly, Neymar pretended to writhe around in immense pain. The reason for this odd little dance on the ground is simple — Neymar is one of the many players on yellows heading into the World Cup quarterfinals.
Including Neymar, there are 32 players on yellows ahead of the quarterfinals. If any of them pick up another card on Friday or Saturday, they will be suspended for the semifinals.
France meandered around the pitch for about 55 minutes without creating much in way of scoring opportunities. Then, with the help of the very first use of World Cup VAR, Les Bleus took the first lead of the match against Australia on an Antoine Griezmann penalty kick on Saturday.
For the first time ever, the FIFA World Cup will utilize video replays after voting unanimously to adopt the system back in March. The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is most prominently used in Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and MLS, but a World Cup debut is a different animal entirely. So how does VAR work in soccer and at the 2018 World Cup? Can you get sick from VAR?