Paul Lewis: Flag extra time, go straight to shootout

An undeniably exciting World Cup in Germany has nevertheless highlighted two of the dreariest elements of such football tournaments - the nil-all draw and extra time.

The 0-0 result played out between Argentina and the Netherlands in their final match of Group C - the so-called "Group of Death" - ended up being the group of deathly boredom.

Both sides are among the most attractive in Germany, especially the Argentinians. Both had already qualified for the Group of 16. It was a matter only of deciding who won the group (and played Mexico in the next round) and who finished second (a harder assignment against Portugal).

The problem arose because Argentina needed only a draw to win the group. The Netherlands were either unperturbed by the prospect of Portugal in the next round or unwilling to show too much to Argentina in case they meet again later in the tournament.

Both sides also spelled leading players who had earned some of the plethora of yellow cards at this tournament. The referees' ready trigger finger has irritated some but has refreshingly reduced the amount of diving, simulated injuries, time-wasting and back chat (stand up, Harry Kewell, the dishonourable exception; the Australian who misses open goals but not the chance to open his mouth, wide, to the ref and who somehow escaped punishment to become a national hero against Croatia.)

But the effect of already having qualified plus the changes on each side produced a situation where these two giants of football played a pygmy of a pool match.

The 0-0 draw is one of the most perplexing parts of football. It is possible, as any football fan knows, for a nil-all game to be a highly exciting affair and good to watch.

But Fifa have yet to find a way to do away with the tactical 0-0 draw at the World Cup and the tedium it creates. After 15 minutes of Argentina-Netherlands, it was apparent that it would finish 0-0 and that the pair were pulling their punches, leaning on each other like two heavyweight boxers more interested in clinching than counter-punching.

All that talent and no resolution. While the players and coaches are unperturbed, such games are awful for the fans, sponsors and broadcasters. The commentators in the Argentina-Netherlands match were reduced to attempting apologetic rationalisations for these two top teams not really trying. That is bunkum. The system is wrong and surely has to be tweaked so that teams are always trying, always producing a match fit to watch and always attempting to win. It is at the very essence of sport, after all.

While this tournament has been among the best ever held in terms of action and goalscoring, that bore draw shows that FIFA still has to solve this problem.

They haven't helped themselves. The World Cup now enters the knockout phase with the Group of 16, with any draws subject to extra time and then a penalty shootout. That's it. No golden goal. No silver goal.

Fifa has now scrapped both of these draw-breaking devices - the golden goal where the team which scores in extra time automatically wins the match; the silver goal where the full extra time period is played out, with the silver goal winning unless the other side equalises before the end of extra time.

The concept was dropped after it failed to bring the desired response - urgency to score the winning goal. Instead, teams knocked the ball around, wasting the opportunity to attack, in favour of not making a mistake and then settling the matter by penalty shootout.

Penalties are a wretched way to finish a game of football - especially games which have been colourful and exciting.

But neither Fifa, football experts nor this writer have been able to come up with an acceptable alternative.

Yet, as the knockout stages progress, watch what happens when matches go to extra time. That's right - it'll be 15 minutes each way of tightly guarded boredom, the emphasis on safety. The Beautiful Game becomes the Boring Game.

Surely Fifa has to keep some incentive to persuade teams to win by playing football rather than the Russian roulette of penalties.

In "dead" pool matches, why not insist that there has to be a result and play to a golden goal? The Americans may have something to teach us here. They don't do draws - not in football (both sorts), ice hockey, basketball or baseball. For good reason.

In the knockout phase, why play extra time if the tactic is clearly to survive it and head for penalties? Just go straight to the penalty shootout, flawed though that is. Or insist that the match must be settled in extra time and extend it until it is.

Football famously has only 17 laws, as opposed to the complex minefield of, say, rugby. Time to add an 18th - outlawing the bore draw and the pantomime of extra time.