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And breathe.
Asserting that Spain and Portugal have qualified for the Round of 16 World Cup finals on Monday and that they will face respectively Russia and Uruguay, is true. And, at the same time, it is so far from presenting a true picture of the drama that has unfolded that it might as well not be it. After a tournament in which VAR had worked remarkably well, there was the first real controversy in its use: two penalties awarded and a yellow card shown to Cristiano Ronaldo that should have been a red.
Iran had stumbled upon a fairly brilliant strike from Ricardo Quaresma, a goal that did not fit with a first half that was long in effort and low on real quality. Intelligent possession of football worked the ball to Quaresma on the right, and he played a one-two to cut inside before shooting with the outside of his right foot in the top corner – a trademark move, and his first World Cup goal in his debut of the first World Cup at the age of 34. Spain fights against Morocco, which puts Portugal at the top of the group at half-time.
And then VAR raised his head. Ronaldo's contribution was limited. There was some distant and speculative shooting, an incredulous smile when he did not have free kicks and nine minutes after the end of the second half, a shot from the left that took him to the front. Morteza Pouraliganji before a collision with Saeid Ezatolahi. It was probably a penalty, but it was not a totally unrealistic interpretation to suggest that Ronaldo had simply met the Iranian midfielder. Initially, the Paraguayan referee Enrique Caceres decided not to give the penalty, but after a VAR revision, he gave it, much to the Iranian fury.
As several players surrounded the referee, Ehsan Haji Safi was retained while Queiroz, who is not only Portuguese but a former manager of Portugal – and who has a tense relationship with Ronaldo and Pepe – threw his jacket on one side and hunted in the tunnel.
It was rather edifying, an extension of the bizarre feeling that they had been deceived after the defeat in Spain. However, goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, who escaped from his family of nomadic shepherds at the age of 12 to become a footballer, saved the penalty. Queiroz returned to the technical zone and, in his excitement, Sardar Azmoun himself received a notice of dissent.
It is there that VAR remains a problem: 20 minutes after Ronaldo's penalty kick, Azmoun fell into the box after a boost from William Carvalho. It was probably not a fault, but it does not help a camp beset by a persecution complex when it sees one incident examined and another not. Tensions have been raised. There were wild tackles, wilder dives and a shameful playtime – acting from Quaresma.
Maja Hitij / FIFA / Getty Images
Then Ronaldo and Pouraliganji got tangled up. At first it seemed like nothing, but Caceres decided to watch the video. He was watching again and again, and the more images were shown, the more it became clear that Ronaldo had pushed his elbow into the face of the Iranian. And that's another problem with VAR: Slow motion can make mobbing violent and vice versa. What was confusing was Caceres' decision: either it was an accident and therefore no action should have been taken, or it was a violent conduct and a red card. He showed yellow, an inexplicable compromise.
This did nothing to dampen Iranian moods. Caceres essentially spent the last quarter of the game surrounded by angry players on both sides, and in the last minute he was persuaded to watch an incident in which Azmoun's head brushed Cédric Soares' arm, which was more than two feet away. The referee then seemed a broken man, and loosely gave a ridiculous penalty. Karim Ansarifard is brilliantly transformed. At the same time, news came out that Iago Aspas had stolen a late equalizer for Spain against Morocco. Portugal, with two controversial penalties, one saved and the other scored, wasted first place in the group.
Julian Finney / Getty Images
Maybe it is not so important. Portugal is a club that often looks better when it can play as a loser, sitting deep, keeping fit and using Ronaldo on break and set games. That's the plan that won the Euros in 2016, and it can work again. Perhaps more worrying the way Portugal finished second, the sense that he opened the door unnecessarily to Spain.
But the ramifications go much further than that. After 11 days when the VAR was hailed as an obvious success, it was the other side: a half in which it was used for three major decisions, may not have gotten a d & # 39; Between them properly and obviously leads to increased dissent from both players and managers.
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