What was the Golden Goal rule in the World Cup and European Championship and when was it abolished? What about the Silver Goal?
The Golden Goal rule always managed to divide opinion. Introduced in the 1990s by FIFA, it was hoped that the ruling would promote attacking football in extra-time  but ended up doing the opposite. The system was simple  score the first goal in extra-time and win the game. FIFA began trialling the system in youth matches as early as 1993, before it was brought into senior international clashes at the Olympics and Confederations Cup. It decided the 1996 European Championship as Germany beat the Czech Republic thanks to Oliver Bierhoffs goal. France 98 was the first World Cup to use it, and the hosts were the benefactors in the last-16 against Paraguay. Under the cosh and with the South Americans looking likely to spoil the party, Laurent Blanc popped up with the dramatic winner. Getty 2 Laurent Blanc celebrates the World Cups first ever Golden Goal  And two years later David Trezeguet won Euro 2000 with a Golden Goal against Italy. The 2002 World Cup saw three golden goals with Senegal beating Sweden and South Korea beating Italy in the Round of 16 with the rule. Senegal then lost to Turkey in the quarter-finals of the same tournament. But the rule just wasnt working the way it was designed and sides were increasingly getting more defensive in extra-time, fearful of conceding rather than being encouraged to attack. FIFA tried the silver goal in 2003 as an alternative, which would see sides leading after the first-half of extra-time winning the game. That was poorly received too and they were forced to abandon the experiment. Following Euro 2004, the whole idea was scrapped.