In the aftermath of the Uruguay vs Cana thriller, the Uruguay players were furious and surrounded referee Daniel Siebert, desperately seeking answers. It was a rude scene, and a shame for the farewell match of Uruguay's golden generation. They deserved a much happier ending, whether it was a glorious victory or a humiliating defeat, than this scene.
A similar scene played out in two consecutive matches - perhaps counting from the Cada vs. Ecuador match - and the controversy has not stopped.FIFA's use of VAR at the World Cup is once again making waves, and with Uruguay's match against Cana, the outcome of which is directly related to which team advances, it is no wonder that Uruguayan players were so The result of the Uruguayan match against Ghana will have a direct bearing on which team advances.
Fate seems to be playing tricks on us, as the twelve-yard penalty that Asamoah Gyan missed back in the day was returned in this Uruguayan game. It was quite a dramatic scene, but both rounds should be taken seriously from the point of view of the fairness of the game. What if this wasn't a group stage qualifying match, or a final to decide the winner, FIFA must take such issues seriously.
With the game in the 58th minute, Darwin Nunez broke into the box and was shoved down by Cana defender Daniel Amartey, referee Daniel Siebert refused to award Uruguay a twelve-yard penalty, but VAR prompted him to revisit the decision.
Siebert revisited the round from several angles and ultimately ruled that Amartey had not committed a clear error and the fight continued. Although Amartey's toes touched the ball, the key question is whether he had fouled with his hands before that? Some angles seem to show that he blocked Nunez first.
It was followed by a tussle between Edinson Cavani and Alidu Seidu in injury time, and if the referee had awarded Uruguay a penalty then they would have had a chance (Huang Yi-Chan had scored) to advance on goal difference.
From the footage given, Cavani's goal seemed less controversial as it looked like he was deliberately creating physical contact to win the penalty, although the referee chose not to check VAR, which could have been the focus of Uruguay's displeasure; the first one was even more controversial but the referee upheld the decision in an understandable way.
It is fair to say that since its introduction, VAR has been impeccably efficient and accurate, the problem is that people have not yet fully adapted to it, they have not yet fully understood whether VAR should be used in all disputed situations; whether to decide whether it should be used only as a professional judgement by the referee or whether it should also provide a full-angle view to everyone; and that even the players have not yet fully understood it - Cavani was even angry with it after the match. -Cavani even vented his anger at it after the match.
Uruguay's loss was quite similar to the controversial point in the last game where Sanliah Kaoru saved a ball out of bounds, and the key wasn't how the referee ruled, Gary Neville's comments hit the nail on the head: from the time the first offside goal was disallowed in the Ecuador vs. Cada game, I've been wondering if it's wrong that the broadcasting unit didn't give us the right perspective on what was really going on. We have 100 cameras in these stadiums, it's impossible to miss anything, but it's not good enough in terms of providing a picture, there must be someone in the VAR who sees something clear that they should give.
Gyan was upfront about the matter when reflecting on that 2010 Elite Eight loss, saying that the penalty he missed put the pressure on the latter player to take a penalty that he shouldn't have, and Luis Suarez was upfront about the fact that he did indeed handball the ball, but had also already been given a blown red card plus a suspension, and didn't need to apologize for Cana's missed penalty.
Cana's loss in this classic battle was largely due to their failure to withstand the pressure. By the same token, the real reason Uruguay went out was that they were too conservative in their first two games, the entire golden generation was aging, the younger generation hadn't fully taken over, and they were in a period of bloodletting. The verdict is only a small part of it.
But as Neville and Graeme Souness say, people have a right to know more, especially in such a crucial game.
Suarez may have played his last game at the World Cup, and his young son was in the stands watching the game today. After a slump in the first game and a substitution in the second, he finally got back to his unbeatable form of the year in the third game, and despite the eventual loss, he and his family deserved a better word.
Just as there is a debate about whether or not Sanjun Kaoru's save was out of bounds, the verdict should be respected, but could the officials have given a quicker and more timely picture? Is it possible to be even-handed in their rulings - if VAR is to be viewed in this case, then VAR should be viewed in similar cases?These are all issues that could be improved.
Suarez says: FIFA has a refereeing committee and they should give a clearer explanation, this is not an excuse. This is a good note for the Group H group stage.
