As a largely ignorant non-soccer fan, I have two questions:

1. Why play a game for 90 minutes to a tie, and then settle the tie by playing a different game (penalty kicks)?

2. Why not go back to the Golden Goal rule, whereby (if I understand it correctly) the next team to score a goal is declared the winner? At least it is the same game.

In the past to settle ties, the U.S. NFL used sudden death (an analog to the Golden Goal, I believe), but abandoned that and now plays overtime periods, albeit under slightly different scoring rules, to determine the winner. But, at least they play the same game.

Please enlighten me. Thank you.

John