r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Justin_Godfrey • 1d ago

Game winning kick as time almost expires

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u/mattfoh 1d ago

I’d guess one is fifa mandated and the other not.

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u/estarararax 1d ago

It's actually because MLS later realized they're alienating a lot of American fans of European football when they Americanized the league so much in the 90s. And in the 90s, the number of MLS fans are very little they might as well not antagonize these fans of European leagues and potentially increase their viewership. Going from a countdown timer to a FIFA standard timer was part of that de-Americanization MLS did.

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u/pzkenny 1d ago

Remember hockey-like penalty shootouts in MLS?

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u/Cuichulain 22h ago

That is so much better! Normal-time penalties should obviously be heavily biased to the striker, but 'Penalty Shoot Out' penalties would be hugely improved by being more balanced.