FIFA must urgently address penalty shoot-out joke
UNLESS you are a completely heartless and pedantic Czech referee, you will have felt for Ireland’s Under 17 goalkeeper James Corcoran this week.
His dismissal during the penalty shoot-out in the Euros on Monday night was cruel and an unnecessary punishment on the player and the team.
It was an awful way for Colin O’Brien and his team to go out of the competition, although I was impressed with the dignified way the coach handled the disappointment. As he pointed out, there are more lows than highs in sport. You just have to come back stronger from the setbacks.
But this was a nonsense and the law which means a keeper is booked for encroaching, even in the penalty shoot-out, clearly needs to be looked at and kicked out.
Whether we like it or not, this will be the biggest game of their lives for some of the lads in the U17 squad. We would love them all to make it in the game, but there are pitfalls ahead – injuries, lack of form, a manager who doesn’t rate you – and this could be the pinnacle of some of their careers.
Hopefully some will be able to use the disappointment as a motivation and they will go on to play for the senior team in a World Cup and win a penalty shoot-out.
However, with the World Cup looming, FIFA have to change this particular law because if this happens in the summer – when there is undoubtedly even more at stake – there could be serious consequences.