Over the past almost two weeks we learned a lot about soccer. What was actually missing is the number one rule in soccer, a game lasts 90 minutes. Wait, didn’t Portugal score in the 95th minute against the U.S.? Yes, they did! But that was added time and added time is determined game by game depending no a few factors: Substitutes, time wasting, acting and other stuff. So, its kind of difficult to exactly say after how many minutes the game is over.
Throughout my career I have learned that a game is over when the referee blows his whistle for the last time and collects the ball to end the game. Until then, everything can happen!
The U.S. paid a heavy price to neglect that basic rule. They covered Portugal’s Ronaldo all game long. Double cover throughout the game gave the opportunity for one defender to take the space for a cross or shot, while the second covered the possibility that Ronaldo got around the first one. As a result, the Portuguese super star had to either pass the ball along to someone else with lesser capabilities or saw himself forced into corners that didn’t cause any danger for the U.S..
Not so in this already famous 95th minute. Somehow he got the ball from midfield and drove himself to the right where he faced one lone defender, for one single time throughout the game. That defender had to give Ronaldo some space in order to avoid a breakthrough. That space was enough to deliver a world class cross right on the skull of Varela who had no problem to score.
Lesson learned: The game is over when the referee blows the whistle for the last time. Until then you stick to your plan and what worked before! Letting it go for just a few seconds can cause the “95th minute trauma” and that can have far reaching consequences.
Vitus Feldmann 