RONALDO MISSES PENALTY IRAN PORTUGAL DRAWWITHSUAREZ! NEXTIT’SURUGUAY—AND
Chaos as Iran’s late penalty denies Portuguese top spot
That hurts: Ronaldo fails from the spot and is behind Harry Kane in the Golden Boot race
IRAN 1 PORTUGAL 1
Send the booth dwellers home and bin the replays — Very Abysmal Reviewing is not fit for purpose. Thanks to the last of a series of dodgy decisions, Iran almost pulled off a fairytale. The reality, however, is that had they progressed, football, along with Portugal, would have been the losers on a shambolic night which brought embarrassment to this wonderful World Cup.
With a stop-start tussle entering stoppage time, Portugal, for whom Cristiano Ronaldo had missed a contentious VAR-awarded penalty, appeared to have secured progression and the group’s top spot thanks to Ricardo Quaresma’s first-half wonder strike.
But then, following yet another woeful video intervention, Iran were handed a ludicrous penalty after Southampton’s Cedric Soares was deemed to have handled the ball in the area. He was not even half a yard away from Sardar Azmoun when the Iranian’s knock- down struck his arm, which was not raised.
nobody appealed. But strangely, Paraguayan referee enrique Caceres went for a touchline consultation. Unbelievably, he then put a square in the air and pointed to the spot.
Sub Karim Ansarifard put it into the top corner and there was, ridiculously, hope for the Iranians. Their dream was almost realised when a deflected effort found Mehdi Taremi around eight yards out. The midfielder’s shot flew into the side netting. Had it gone in, Iran would have been through. Perhaps Caceres and his pals breathed a sigh of relief.
This was the clearest evidence yet that, in its current format, VAR is more trouble than it’s worth. Slow motion, as we have seen in other sports, can distort reality.
Alan Shearer summed it up. ‘Farcical, absolutely shambolic,’ he told BBC viewers. ‘The referee is a very lucky guy. If Iran had scored in the last minute, there would have been chaos.’
The newcastle legend, never one to stand up for defenders, added: ‘every time it hits a hand it’s a pen? If you’re going to get games like this then it’s an absolute farce.’ He was not wrong. VAR turned what should have been a spectacle into a laughing stock.
not that either set of players covered themselves in glory.
In england, EastEnders followed the match. Viewers who watched both will have seen more acting in the scenes beamed back from Russia than from Albert Square.
Ronaldo was perhaps lucky to stay on the field after being shown a yellow following another consultation after his arm hit the chin of Iran’s Morteza Pouraliganji.
Former Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz, now in charge of Iran, thought so. ‘It is a red card,’ he said. ‘So Mr Infantino and FIFA, everybody agrees that VAR is not going well.’ Portugal play fellow masters of the dark arts Uruguay next. How long that will go on for is anyone’s guess.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos wanted to concentrate on the future. ‘The important thing is to think about the last-16 match,’ he said. ‘We have our weapons and we’re going to try to win.’
His european champions had been the better side and took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Quaresma struck. Following a slick one-two with Adrien Silva, he cut in from the right before sending a curling, dipping effort into the far corner with the outside of his right boot.
And following the break it looked as though Ronaldo’s moment, thanks to another questionable VAR decision, had arrived. Initially, Caceres had waved play-on after the forward tangled with Iran’s Saeid ezatolahi just inside the area. But after an age a penalty was awarded.
Crazy, although worse was to follow. When it comes to penalties, however, Ronaldo is not Harry Kane and his low effort to the right was easily saved by the skittish Ali Beiranvand.
It meant Ronaldo remained on four goals in the race for the Golden Boot, and Kane’s one-goal lead is intact. Following the injurytime madness, the england striker will have been one of few left with a smile on his face after a dark night for football. This carry on cannot carry on.