Soccer question: minute or time left in half?

All season I have been writing when a goal is scored, or when a play happens, I use what minute in the game it is.
Now that we are hitting Regional action, I am reading other accounts of games and see that other papers in the area are using the time left on the clock in the half.

Example: A goal scored at 16:26 left in the first half would be the 24th minute, a goal 1:20 into the second half would be in the 41st minute.

I've never seen it that way before, and just assumed to use the "correct" soccer terminology. A coach even commented that he liked the way I addressed time in the game.

What's the proper American style?

 

I would keep doing it the way you are. It is AP style, as per their Honduras-Mexico gamer today:

"Both of Costly’s goals came after Mexico was reduced to 10 men in the 49th minute when Cuauhtemoc Blanco was expelled for elbowing defender Samuel Caballero in front of the Honduran goal as the two jostled for position awaiting a Mexican corner kick. Caballero nudged Blanco, who reacted with an elbow to the Honduran’s midsection."

"Costly equalized in the 60th, running onto a through ball from Amado Guevara that almost reached the byline and hitting a left-footed shot into the far-side netting."

You can also use how long there is to go in minutes, eg.

Williams equalized for the Cowboys with five minutes left in the first half.

 

Thanks. I assumed so, but I figure I would pose the question anyway.

 

Use the minute. Don't rely on high school timekeepers: some use the clock to count up, some use it to count down, some keep it running.

I always take my own stopwatch and keep an eye on the center referee: stop and start when he/she does, even for injury and such. That will give you a more accurate time frame.

 

Please don't use "equalized" in your stories. Makes me cringe when I see it.

 

Definitely use the minute.

 

Sorry John, conventional international soccer term.

Good enough for me, and the AP.

[quote author=AP Cuba-Panama gamer today]After Alcantara equalized, Panama appeared to be on the verge of victory when Molina received a yellow card for tripping Baloy as the two raced for a free ball. But Baloy, the team captain, sent the ensuing penalty into the seats behind the goal.[/quote]

 

ANd nil is a null term... dont use it...

 

Use equalized in a soccer story if you'd use it in a football or basketball story. You're writing for the American reader, not someone in Glasgow. (Or are you?)
Use minutes and seconds. More precise, and the reader deserves it. Or, if you prefer a sundial to digital clocks, also round off distances of goals to the nearest 10 yards.
If you're with Euros on this one, please also follow that style and don't use first names or quotes, either.

 

You can't use seconds in a soccer game, because time is kept by the official on the field. The time on the clock is merely a guideline.

 

spike, I'm a little slow getting to this thread but keep on doing what you're doing. Most readers of soccer are going to know and understand its terminology. Plus, it's right.

 

Thanks IJAG. The other thing is that different sports have different languages. To say that American soccer writers should write their gamers like they would a football or baseball game would be like saying European writers should write NFL Europe gamers as they do soccer. It doesn't work that way. Both sports have their own language, derived in different areas.

I suppose we should stop saying "six-love" in tennis as well.......