Blunder referee gets nod for Tunisia clash

ENGLAND have been assigned controversial Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan for their opening World Cup game against Tunisia, with the South American already having been at the centre of two VAR controversies in the last year.

Despite being highly rated, Roldan was at the centre of a farcical VAR blunders at last year’s Confederations Cup, initially sending off the wrong player. Cameroon’s Sebastien Siani was wrongly booked for a high challenge by team-mate Ernest Mabouka on Germany’s Emre Can. Reviewing the incident using VAR, Roldan (right) upgraded the card to red but failed to spot he was punishing the wrong player.

Amid Cameroon protests, he reviewed the incident again, rescinded Siani’s sending off and eventually showed red to the correct culprit Mabouka.

‘Everybody’s confused including me,’ said Cameroon coach Hugo Broos after the game in June 2017. ‘First of all I saw a red card, then it was a yellow card, then he gave a red card for another player, so don’t ask me what really happened.”

Roldan was also blamed by River Plate for their elimination from the Copa Libertadores semi-final in November, when he failed to spot a handball and potential penalty committed by opponents Lanus. On that occasion the VAR failed to step in and correct what appeared to be a clear error. Ahead of tomorrow’s match, Gareth Southgate has urged his players to cast off the shackles of fear which have weighed down the national team at major tournaments and play with freedom. England fly to Volgograd today and the manager said: ‘I think whenever you represent England, there’s expectation, there’s hope, you carry the dreams of a nation and it’s impossible to say to any player you can go out and play without any feeling of pressure or any feeling or fear. ‘But what you have to do is make sure that doesn’t control you and that you go for it in your performances. ‘Pressure is what you perceive and we have to focus on the things we can control.’ Marcus Rashford has recovered from a knee injury but is likely to be on the bench.