Warbler said:
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why was 4 minutes added to the game? Near the end of regulation time, the announcers said the something about the refs deciding how much time to add to the end. So the refs can just add however much time they want to the game????
the game ending in a tie, why was there no overtime? They must have some way about breaking a tie in the upper rounds.
When the clock read about 84:00 , a USA player was escorted off the field by the ref? why? It didn't look like he did anything wrong. What happened?
can anyone please give me some answers to my questions?
You are right about the ties. It is sort of like the NASCAR races (which I enjoy even less than soccer). The points build as the tournament goes along.
The extra time is based on an estimate by the officials on how much time is spent as down-time. So while the clock always runs, even after goals and during injuries when they are carting some schmuck off of the field. Game officials estimate how much time was spent standing around and not running back and forth and add that time to the end of the game.