UEFA modifies golden goal rules

THE European Super Cup will have a new name inscribed on it after tonight’s final when European champions Real Madrid and UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord both attempt to win it for the first time.

The final could also enter the record books as the first match to be decided after 105 minutes of playing time - which would comprise just one 15-minute period of extra time according to new golden goal rules introduced for the first time this season.

UEFA, unhappy with the sudden-death aspect of the old rule in which the match ended as soon as a goal was scored in extra time has brought in a new rule which states that if a golden goal is scored during the first half of extra-time, the game will continue until half-time of extra time with the team which scored the golden goal winning.

If, after 105 minutes, the scores are still level, a further 15 minutes will be played. In other words, extra-time will last either 15 or 30 minutes and the side which concedes a golden goal will, at least, be given a sporting chance of fighting back.

The last time Real Madrid played in the Super Cup final they lost 2-1 to Galatasaray and a Mario Jardel winner in 2000. They have returned to Monaco to try and win the cup at the third attempt. Feyenoord are playing in their first final.

Real’s first appearance in 1998 ended in a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea after Uruguayan striker Gustavo Poyet came on as a second-half substitute to score the winner, and two year’s ago they surprisingly lost to Galatasaray.

Although the match is just the curtain-raiser to the new European season, Real are determined to win it. “It is the first real test of the season and it is also our bogey trophy,” says right back Michel Salgado.

“We are really determined to bring the cup back to Madrid this time.”

But Real coach Vicente del Bosque was characteristically cautious about his team’s chances of victory over the Dutch team who qualified for the first stage of the Champions League on Tuesday after a 3-0 aggregate win over Fenerbahce of Turkey.

“They are a classic team from the Dutch school and also have some very good foreign players. They knocked out some tough teams in last season’s UEFA Cup and play very good football.”

Real’s preparations for Friday’s final may have been overshadowed by the saga surrounding the apparent collapse of the attempt to sign Ronaldo from Inter Milan.

However, the team’s pre-season performances suggest that they will have little problem in hitting the target.

Del Bosque’s side smashed five past Romanian champions Dinamo Bucharest on Saturday, with former youth team striker Javier Portillo grabbing the headlines after notching a well-taken double when he came on as a second-half substitute.