UEFA EURO 2012 - Poland/Ukraine

[RobbieD_PL]

Poland showed some heart, the players did good, i think the coach just made the wrong choices about how to approach the game.

He thought a draw was worth more than a win.

 

[Champion757]

Yeh but because there was no three way tie, the goal differential didn't matter anyway.

Yeah but that's just it. Now there has to be a 3 way tie for goal differential to come into play. Two team ties in group stages were always decided by goal differential, not head to head result.

 

[Coruja]

I wish Portugal had a player like Lewandowski on the front. : (

 

[RobbieD_PL]

Well apparently it has been decided by the head-to-head result as Greece are through.

 

[Champion757]

He thought a draw was worth more than a win.

actually i think it was the opposite. no matter what happened in Greece vs Russia, the only way Poland could have qualified was with a win. A draw would have given them 3 draws, 3 points, and Czech and Russia would have at least 4. of course in the old days when wins were only 2 points, 0-0-3 was treated the same as 1-1-1. but not anymore.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

I wish Portugal had a player like Lewandowski on the front. : (

That's probably why we drew 0-0 in the first game at the national stadium.

 

[Champion757]

Well apparently it has been decided by the head-to-head result as Greece are through.

Yeah apparently! To much surprise. I hope it's not like that for WC2014.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;

2. Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points);

3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points);

4. If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3 to more than two teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine the final rankings of the two teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 10 apply in the order given;

5. Superior goal difference in all group matches;

6. Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;

7. If two teams which are tied in all criteria 1 to 6 play their last group match against each other (i.e., the result is a draw and the two teams have the same number of points, goal difference and goals scored), and provided no other teams within the group have the same number of points, the ranking of the two teams in question is determined by penalty shoot-out.

 

[Sir Calumn]

You see, I think those rules are ludicrous. It should always just be goal difference across all matches. Simple.

 

[Champion757]

1. Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;

2. Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points);

3. Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points);

Thanks for the post. Isn't this much more complicated then it was before? So instead of overall goal differential being the simple tiebreaker, it basically amounts to head to head result first if two teams are tied, and if 3 teams are tied, it's not overall point differential anymore, but the point differential from the match played between the teams?

if that is the case, then the overall goal differential statistic that they show when they list the teams in the group table is nearly meaningless now. you used to be able to calculate the scenarios just by looking at the table, right?

 

[RobbieD_PL]

Well head to head result also makes sense. You've just beaten a team, but because they scored more goals earlier, they get to go through?

Also, it's not just that overall point/goal differential doesn't count. It's just that the matches played between the teams take precedence.

 

[Champion757]

You see, I think those rules are ludicrous. It should always just be goal difference across all matches. Simple.

Me too Sir. It was better and simpler that way because you each game was equally important and you could keep track of it all easily through the table.

 

[Champion757]

Well head to head result also makes sense. You've just beaten a team, but because they scored more goals earlier, they get to go through?

Maybe in American football, but in soccer football goal differential was the first tiebreaker in group stages. In previous World Cups it was the case. I know in the past they sometimes tested new rules in the euro championships, like in 2004 with the silver goal extra time, but never anything like this.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

I've just checked and it was the same in 2004. The matches between the teams in question also took precedence above overall goals/points earned for a tie-breaker during that tournament.

 

[Champion757]

I've just checked and it was the same in 2004. The matches between the teams in question also took precedence above overall goals/points earned for a tie-breaker during that tournament.

interesting. yeah i remembered they tried the silver goal extra time in that one, but they changed it back to full 30 minute extra time in 2008. do you know if the group stage tiebreakers the same in euro 2008? if so, then maybe these tiebreakers are specific to euro championships. haven't world cup group stages and other major tournaments used overall goal differential?

 

[Champion757]

yeah in WC 2010, Article 39, no. 5, the first three tiebreakers are

a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in all group matches;
c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.

I guess it's just a euro championships specific thing. This highlights a huge difference in this tournament that i don't think many people were aware of.

 

[MaestroZidane]

I've just checked and it was the same in 2004. The matches between the teams in question also took precedence above overall goals/points earned for a tie-breaker during that tournament.

This makes perfect sense. I would have been more disappointed if the loser went ahead and the winner was eliminated.

 

[Pogba4Now]

Was the Euros always like that?! How come I never knew until today? Seems like many didn't know as well.

 

[mogolos]

Advocaat: “We totally outclassed Greece. We gave away the first goal and didn't recuperate from that blow. They are masters at bleeding a match to death.

"I'm not really too interested in what others say about me. My staff worked really hard, we were undefeated for 16 matches.

"We were unfortunate. We should have won today but that's football so compliments to Greece."

 

[Arnau]

Another brilliant one