There is NOTHING worse than watching two teams play to a 0-0 or 1-1 tie, regardless of how much suspense, action, whatever there was. A tie is simply an unsatisfying result to a game. I cannot believe soccer hasn't adopted an overtime / shootout system to settle ties. I understand that it sucks to lose a game on shootouts, but it's real nice to win one!

Speak fer yourself. I don't mind a tie at all. Watching soccer is like watching an exciting chess match for me. Hmm... maybe that's a bad example... A tie is a bit of an unsatisfying result, but I'd rather a tied game between two equal teams than see a game won or lost on a shootout. It doesn't just suck to lose on a shootout, it sucks to win on one, too. I played as a keeper for about 5 years. A shootout in soccer isn't like a shootout in hockey, where the goalie covers 90% of the net. As a keeper, you pick which direction you're going to dive before the kicker even swings a leg at the ball -- it's the only chance you have of stopping a shot. Provided you picked the right direction in the first place. You might as well count potatoes to decide the winner, and everyone playing knows it, so winning by shootout has no more satisfaction to a game than a tie. And for what it's worth, they do have a shootout in the final rounds -- the prelims are for points for seeding purposes, just like first round games in hockey tourneys that allow tie games (such as the Olympics).

An overtime period would be nice, but that would make for some *really* long games. Maybe if overtime games were played with half the men on the field, and unlimited subs to keep players fresh enough to keep playing well...

(To bring the subject fully back on topic, I'm glad I work for a company that has engineers -- I couldn't solder my way out of a dry paper bag )

Cheers,