Fully one-quarter of the total time is remaining in the Argentina-Mexico soccer match and, with the score tied 1-1, the commenter on ESPN.com (the gamecast) says, “This is starting to look like it will go to extra time.”
Is there any other major sport where things seem so determined so early? Football teams rarely give up even if they are down by 17 at the start of the fourth quarter. Good basketball teams will fight back down six with 30 seconds to play. These too are uphill battles. Can someone explain the game psychology of soccer that seems to determine that similar comeback efforts are futile, even if only behind by one goal at half-time? This seems particularly strange in a sport where possession can change at any moment and a score takes just seconds.
Update: The game did, of course, go to extra time (overtime).
I believe the commenter was saying that the teams seem relatively evenly matched, and the defenses were such that a goal seems unlikely. Then again, the commenter could be an idiot.
I disagree that a score takes seconds. It takes only a couple of seconds for a full-length fast break in basketball. A soccer play is much more tactical, and usually takes longer to set up.
That being said, there is very much an air of fatalism and predestination in the sport which is not present even in the most soccer-like of leagues, the NHL.