As I understand it, a direct or indirect free kick is generally only likely to result in a goal if it was taken from about 30 yards or so. Beyond that, a kick is highly unlikely to succeed.
So if a team fouls a player far from the goal - say, 50+ yards away - as time is winding down (say, Germany is leading Argentina 1-0 after Goetze takes the lead,) then wouldn’t it be worthwhile for the Germans to keep fouling the Argentines as far from the German goal as possible, since it would force the Argentines into taking direct free kicks that are so far from the German goal as to essentially be direct turnovers, handing the ball directly to Germany?
A direct free kick does not obligate the team taking it to have a shot on goal.
They can choose to if they want (and if it goes in then indeed it is a fair goal) but they equally can just choose to retain possession. As they would in your scenario.
Also, very, very quickly the ref would clamp down on foul after foul of that type and yellow then red cards would follow.
I see. What I had been thinking was that if the defending team kept willfully fouling the attacking team when there’s only, say, 3 minutes left in the game, then this would bleed off a valuable 20-30 seconds each time as the referee has to set up the ball for the ensuing free kick.
sure, that is a tactic, even if the direct/indirect free kick aspect isn’t an issue with only a few minutes left the team ahead will look for all sorts of ways to waste time. Feigning injury, making spurious substitutions etc.
The red carded players would also lose the next tournament game automatically and if it was obvious that this was a thoroughly unsportsmanlike tactic they could be fined.
A free kick is just that: free for your opponents to do as they please. Thinking they will do with it what you think is a great way to lose.
The other guys, who are most likely just as good/bad as you at every aspect of the game are also perfectly capable of diving, evading your tackle, passing the ball before you get near or any other tactic to make yours not work. Then there is the ref, who will most likely add time and dish out any number of cards to frustrate your manipulation.
Football is a reasonably adult game: most tricks have been tried, dealt with, re-invented and dealt with again. The chances of anybody coming up with anything that hasn’t been tried are small.
Fouling the opponent to waste time is not exactly a new concept.
It is much more viable to take the ball and dribble near the opponents corner flag. It doesn’t carry the same risk of being “found out” and piss of the ref. And wastes time just fine.
As well as what everyone else has said, this tactic relies on the defending side holding the ball in the other side’s defensive position, ie near their goal, ie attacking them, which seems unlikely given they’ll be attacking you.