Silver goal
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Silver goal was a method used in association football to decide the result of games in elimination matches which end in a draw after the end of the ordinary time. A fifteen-minute extra time period is played, and if either team is leading at the conclusion of that period that team wins the match. If the scores are level, another fifteen-minute period is played. If the scores are level after two periods of extra time, a penalty shootout decides the game.
The silver goal rules were proposed to the IFAB in 2002 by UEFA to supplement the unsuccessful golden goal rules introduced in 1994. In extra time a team leading after the first fifteen minute period, or having the away goal advantage at that point, would win, but the game would no longer stop the instant a team scored as with the golden goal rule. This change was decided after golden goal victories led to some ugly behaviour from the losing teams. Golden goal was also seen as putting excessive pressure on the referee and when it was introduced, it was also supposed to stimulate the offensive flair of the teams, which rarely happened, since the danger of conceding a goal from an opposition counter attack made taking risks to score unattractive.
The Golden Goal was not removed from the Laws of the Game, and as with when the Golden Goal was introduced, the Silver Goal was not made compulsory. Competitions operating extra time were able to use the Golden Goal, the Silver Goal, or neither procedure during extra time.
The first trophy to be decided by a silver goal was the 2003 UEFA Cup. In the final between Porto and Celtic, Derlei took advantage of a long pass to Marco Ferreira that Celtic's keeper Douglas couldn't handle, and placed a kick that just stopped in the net, just 3 minutes from the end of extra time.
However, the Silver Goal also didn't please the IFAB. In February 2004 it was decided that after Euro 2004 in Portugal extra-time would return solely to the usual two 15-minute halves without any goal scoring considerations, as they were before the 1994 World Cup. At Euro 2004, the semifinal match between Greece and the Czech Republic was decided by the silver goal, when Traianos Dellas scored for Greece after a corner kick in the last two seconds of the first period of extra time. This was also the last silver goal ever, as the final game of the cup between Greece and Portugal did not reach extra time. Strictly speaking, it was also the only silver goal ever, as every other silver goal had been scored in the second half of extra time and hence had no impact on when the game was stopped.
de:Silver Goal eo:Arĝenta golo it:Silver gol nl:Silver goal ja:シルバーゴール sv:Silver goal es:Gol de plata