UEFA's Away Goal Rule Sucks; Just sayin...

I took this argument to Twitter last week in advance of the Europa League semifinals: Succinctly, it's my opinion the away goal rule sucks and, more importantly, is outdated. It was instituted in the mid-'60s, first in the Cup-Winners Cup and eventually to the European Cup (which became the Champions League) in order to force visiting teams to attack on the road in European ties. The premise is that away goals have more value than a home goal; those dingy two-star hotels these guys stay in just sap their strength, y'know.

And maybe, 45 years ago, there was validity to that theory. Teams did travel by train, or rickety plane. Maybe accommodations, training and salaries weren't to the standards and levels they are today. And perhaps visiting teams did just play to survive on the road.

It was a different time. Players, for the most part, spent their careers wearing one jersey. There were no free agents, no mega-million signings. Players played for the love of the shirt. Players played for the love of the club and the fans adored them for it. Today, players are corporations. Sure, you root for United, Madrid and Bayern if that's your club. But you don't have that kind of affinity with players any more. There are no more lifers--or very few of them any way.

Being a football lifer and all that comes with it, however, was the norm 45 years ago, and made the away-goals rule a viable option. It probably was a really neat idea and fans loved it. Today? Not so much. I don't think it works any longer.

I have a difficult time wrapping my head around the fact that playing at home puts a club at a disadvantage, or that a traveling team needs a handicap. Are you going to tell me Leo Messi on the road is any less dangerous than at Camp Nou? Or that Braga's 1-0 home win over Benfica last week was worth more than Benfica's 2-1 win at home the week before because they gave up a goal at home? C'mon. Read that last sentence aloud; it sounds dumber than it does reading it to yourself.

It's time to get with the times and take all of this into consideration: better travel, better conditioning, better salaries, better living conditions, better lifestyles. All of it makes--and more--makes the away-goals rule obsolete. Braga-Benfica should have gone to extra time. It was 2-2, not 2-2 with an asterisk. And trust me, I'm no Benfica fan. I'm speaking objectively.

If I were speaking subjectively, I'd point you to the 1971-72 Cup Winners Cup second round between Rangers and Sporting where the referee mistakenly send the game to penalties and did not take into account that Rangers, by some eerie mathematical formula, had scored more away goals than Sporting and should have won the tie. Sporting "won" the game in penalties, but lost it moments after the final whistle when the ref was reminded that goals scored away from home on Tuesdays with the Moon in Sagitarius were worth more than goals scored on Thursdays with the Sun in Virgo, or some shit like that.

If you ask me, that ref was ahead of his time.

UEFA Cup final: Hypocritical Advocaat Turns Cheers to Jeers

I don't have an emotional investment in today's UEFA Cup final between Zenit St. Petersburg and Rangers (2 p.m. ET Fox Soccer Channel), but if you're on the fence like me, you may want to check out Martin Samuel's column today in the Times of London on Zenit manager Dick Advocaat.

By the time you're done, you'll be saying "Go Rangers."

Seems the Russian club has a long-standing policy (83 years) of not hiring black players. Advocaat, former Holland coach, defending his refusal to buck that policy. He told a Russian journalist:

“I don’t want to sign a player who won’t be accepted by the fans. The fans are the most important thing that Zenit have and that is why I have to ask them outright how they will react if we sign a dark-skinned player. The only players who can make Zenit stronger are dark skinned. Look at the Brazilians who play for CSKA Moscow. For us, it would be impossible. I would be happy to sign anyone, but the fans don’t like black players. I do not understand how they could pay so much attention to skin colour. For me, there is no difference; but they care.”

Great, Dick, thanks for clarifying.

I'll let this hypocrisy speak for itself. I'm sure Advocaat has some money socked away somewhere, and has the coaching pedigree to get another job in Europe. Does he need to work for Zenit that badly? Couldn't he have resigned on principle when he first got wind of this foul breeze? Why perpetuate it? Why perpetuate the climate of racism doing enough damage to this game already?

It's too bad this is allowed to go on. Where's UEFA been with this garbage? Why hasn't the game's governing body stepped in and banned this club until it gets its act together on race? This is shameful.

I no longer admire Zenit's remarkable run in the UEFA Cup, laying waste to among others, Bayern Munich, in its wake. I no longer want to see Cinderella be the belle of the ball. I no longer want to hear anything about this club, or this manager.

Go Rangers!