I had someone explain that to me. It almost made sense. We tend to be very clock oriented, but that's not the only way to look at a competition. In soccer the sense of fair play is to make sure both sides have had their chances. The match should be about 90 minutes, but if the ref feels that one side has something going, it's wrong to call the end of the match in the middle of the action. An extra minute or two isn't so important, in this view. OK, I think I didn't express this as eloquently as whoever told it to me, because I'm not convinced by my proofreading pass.