San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Technology helps France get past gritty Australia
Technology twice helped France at the World Cup on Saturday as the 1998 champions labored to beat gritty Australia 2-1 in their opening game in Kazan, Russia.
The French team was given a controversial penalty kick, eventually converted by Antoine Griezmann in the 58th minute, after the referee watched the replay of a foul on the sideline.
Paul Pogba later scored the winning goal in the 81st minute, and goal-line technology was used to confirm the ball had crossed the line after bouncing down off the crossbar.
“I’m not going to complain about the use of video today,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It helped correct a mistake.”
Pogba had been unimpressive until the goal, but the Manchester United midfielder set up a 1-2 with substitute Olivier Giroud and beat Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan to give France the victory.
Australia captain Mile Jedinak had briefly equalized from the penalty spot in the 62nd after France defender Samuel Umtiti handled the ball in the area.
After a balanced first half, France was awarded the first penalty following a VAR review. After checking images of a tackle from behind by Joshua Risdon on Griezmann, referee Andres Cunha pointed to the penalty spot.
“When I received the knock I believed there was a penalty,” Griezmann said. “The referee did not bow his whistle, so I moved on with that. But when he went to see if there was a penalty I immediately thought about how I would take it.”
Croatia 2, Nigeria 0: Even in a more defensive role, Luka Modric can still lead the attack. The Croatia midfielder scored one goal and set up the other in his team’s opening victory at Kaliningrad.
Modric sent in a corner that was headed by two teammates and then deflected into the net by Nigeria midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo in the 32nd minute.
“We scored at the perfect moment. After that it was easier for us to play our game,” Modric said. “After the first goal we started creating chances.”
Modric later converted a penalty in the 71st after William Ekong held onto Mario Mandzukic. It was the fifth penalty awarded in four World Cup matches on Saturday.
Croatia now leads Group D with three points and next plays Argentina on Thursday in Nizhny Novgorod. Nigeria will take on Iceland a day later in Volgograd.
“We have the youngest team in this World Cup,” Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr said. “Let them learn from this match, from this defeat.”