Does the first goal change everything in a football game??

[EKBATAN]

General question; Is it true that whoever scores the first goal, the momentum goes their direction?

[50Toman]

I dont think so, its all up the leading and losing team. How strong they are mentally.

But it does change the pace of the game.

[Blue_Lover]

Not always. Can you add not always option as well?

[EKBATAN]

^^^^^^

well obviously not always cuz teams come back and win it

but in general, the team that scores first is 90% the winner in the end....and it does change the momentum towards that team. Therefore lowering the morale of the other team. It kills their confidence in many ways.

[EKBATAN]

I dont think so, its all up the leading and losing team. How strong they are mentally.

But it does change the pace of the game.

From your explanation it means YES

why did you vote No?

[milad]

NO! the point of the game: outscore your opponent. at all times during a game you should be trying to outscore your opponent so it doesnt matter if it is 0-1 or 0-4.

[Suprah]

YES if you want to finish with 0-0 scoreline and then someone broke the rule and God forbid made it 1-0

[IranSoccer#8]

Yes, early goals make the team that are down, have to attack more and it opens up the game. Late first goals, kill teams confidences and put the team up by a goal on the backfoot defending. so yea, the first goal is very important.

[persian boy]

It changes everything but it doesn't necessarily shift everything to the team the scored. It changes the pace, and it opens things up.

For Example:

Chelsea-United CL Final. The game was really tight at first and there were like no attacks. Once Ronaldo scored, the play started to flow for both teams and we saw chances left and right.

[Darvish11]

what the first goal does is not necessarily change the momentum but make the losing team press, which allows easy counters, as was the case in the italy game. As great as holland played i think a lot of that had to do with the space they were given. Basically if the correct call was made the game would have been DRASTICALLY different.

[teammelli34]

if the goal is scored in the first half, no.

but if its scored in the 70th or more minute, alot of people including myslef get a bit frustrated, which screws your game up..

[milad]

what the first goal does is not necessarily change the momentum but make the losing team press, which allows easy counters, as was the case in the italy game. As great as holland played i think a lot of that had to do with the space they were given. Basically if the correct call was made the game would have been DRASTICALLY different.

which call was incorrect? plus, you cant say if the correct call.... incorrect calls are just as part of the game as correct calls. they are supposed to happen occasionally.

[Babak agha]

Holland was dominating the game though even before they scored the first, so it was just a matter of time actually..,
But in that game the fist goal was crucial.. If Italy would have made the first goal, i'm sure they would have won.

[yashar_fasihnia]

yes it affects the game, but that doesnt mean there is no way back.

it also depends at wat time the goal was scored and who the opponent is.

for example, if the first goal is scored in the 80th minute, the affect is much more because the scorer will now try to defend its lead in the last 10 minutes and the other team will feel a lot of pressure to score in the last 10 minutes.
but if the goal was scored early in the game, the leading team wont start defending for say 60 minutes and the other team wont be too pressurized either to quickly equalize.

it also depends who ur playing. if for example ur playing a team who palys open like holland, then it doesnt maater as much as if ur playing a team who plays closed like for example greece.


regarding the holland italy game which im sure saeed jan has in mind, italy had enough time and chances to change the game. had luca toni scored even after italy was down 2-0, the game could very well have changed. so italy wasnt only a victim of bad luck or confusing weird FIFA laws.

[EKBATAN]

what the first goal does is not necessarily change the momentum but make the losing team press, which allows easy counters, as was the case in the italy game. As great as holland played i think a lot of that had to do with the space they were given. Basically if the correct call was made the game would have been DRASTICALLY different.

exactly



so its pretty f-cked up and frustrating especially if the goal wasn't fair. That 1st holland goal was clearly off-side and since at that moment holland was playing better then it crushed italy's morale hence the 2nd goal.