My views on penalties are similar to Winston Churchill’s opinion on democracy – to paraphrase. All in all it’s a pretty crap system, but it is the best we’ve got.

Yes, penalty shootouts can be hideously cruel, as many people felt Wednesday’s Champions League shootout was. But it is the best we have. Yes,  shootouts are more like a game of darts than the team-oriented game of football, but – again – it is the best we have. It always makes me cringe when people criticise the penalty shootout; compared to dodgy refereeing in comes up with unfair results far fewer times, and it provides an end, and a winner, albeit in a relatively abrupt and quick manner.

To ask if it is “fair” to win such a huge tournament on penalties implies that it is intrinsically unfair – but this is just something that has seeped through the subconscious of every Englishman because we hardly ever win on penalties. It was only because two English teams were facing each other on Wednesday that an English team managed to win - and even then it was a penalty win that was anything but efficient.

'Both Golden and Silver Goal ideas are mere extra-time accoutrements to mask the fact that both sides are invariably playing for penalties anyway'


However, there is also something to be said for penalties. Many top sporting finales are fought on a razor’s edge with even the most miniscule differences in performance having seismic consequences. In the world of Formula One, championships can be won and lost in the blink of an eye, and mere fractions of seconds can be the difference between glory and despair.

In basketball, teams can win huge accolades for winning by a mere point, and so now football can join these ranks with a slip denying Chelsea's John Terry and a save giving Manchester United the most prestigious club trophy in the footballing world.

A look at the other options available shows us that penalties remain the best way to decide it. Both Golden and Silver Goal ideas are a damp squib in my opinion, the scenarios being mere extra-time accoutrements to mask the fact that both sides are invariably playing for penalties anyway.

If I was an FIFA bigwig, I’d remove all mention of extra time – it is a woefully soporific system and we should just cut to the chase. If these sides want to face the pain and shame of penalties, then who are we to stop them?

In the end, blaming penalties for your team’s loss is a tad cheap, and claiming that penalties are an unfair and unsuitable way of deciding big games is just a way of blaming the system instead of focusing the spotlight on players’ mistakes.