In recent days, several controversies related to arbitration have stirred the World Cup. Last week, Canada should have benefited from two penalties against Belgium. Two big mistakes on the part of Mr. Janny Sikazwe, on the whistle during this meeting. On Wednesday, the Blues were also the victims of an error as the goal scored by Antoine Griezmman was canceled after the commitment was made and the referee whistled the end of the game. What is not possible if we rely on the rules. The penalty awarded to Lionel Messi, following a foul by Szczsny during Argentina-Poland, was also debated.
And what about the controversy born after the second goal of the Japan against Spain. A scandalous achievement since it was validated by video assistance when the ball seemed to have gone out of the field on Kaoru Mitoma’s cross which preceded Tanaka’s goal. After long minutes, the referee confirmed the goal of the Blue Samurai, who therefore won 2 to 1 and finished at the top of their group in front of La Roja. Which doomed the Germans. This Friday, the media return to this controversy, like Picture which titled: “All of Germany is talking about THIS goal from Japan!”
Germany enrages
The German publication writes about this “minute decision“: “Mitoma plays the ball from the outside to the middle which makes it 2-1. The crucial question: was the bullet still in it? After the video check, the referee says: yes (…) This goal was checked for three minutes because the ball could have been out of bounds (…) On television it looks like the ball is completely behind the goal line. It may only be played out a few millimeters away. Japan’s goal matters. Like England’s goal at Wembley in the 1966 final.”.
Picture adds: “It’s a bitter drama. As in 1966 in the World Cup final against England at Wembley Stadium, there was another controversial decision and again Germany lost in the end.. ‘Big doubts over Japan’s winning goal’title on its side Sports 1. Asked by Picturearbitration expert Patrick Ittrich is also skeptical: “The referee looked at the assistant. They had a brief communication contact. The assistant probably wasn’t sure either. Then it was checked. Then the goal was given later. The verification process took a long time. Would you have given it right away if the assistant had left the flag down? »
A controversial goal in Spain
Ittrich continues: “That’s why we need visual proof. You have that thanks to the goal line camera. There are several other cameras in stadiums to verify this. Apparently they found the ball was not out of bounds.. A decision that was not understood also in Spain, where the loss of first place in the group is not digested. Sport wrote about it: “Surreal! VAR validated Japan’s goal but… did the ball go out? The VAR ruled that the ball had not completely left the baseline and awarded the goal to Tanaka.. A controversial goal which also caused a reaction brand. “The VAR judged that the ball was inside”.
Same story for AS : “the world of football in shock: no one understood how Japan’s goal was validated. The ball seemed to have clearly crossed the baseline but the VAR deemed otherwise.. For his part, Luis Enrique hallucinated. “I felt something fishy was going on when the VAR took so long to decide (…) I was shown a photo. But I can’t believe this photo is real, it must be a fake or a montage! It is not possible otherwise. I dare not believe this photo and I will not give my opinion it is preferable.
Japan comments on this contentious achievement
In England, several media like The Sunwhich specifies that the Germans are “furious”and consultants have also cried foul like Gary Neville. “Since that first offside goal disallowed during Ecuador-Qatar, I struggled with that and found it uncomfortable that we weren’t getting the right angles for the footage. It’s not okay. We have hundreds of cameras in these stadiums where we can’t miss anything and yet we have fallen behind in terms of demonstrating decisions. Graeme Souness said: “there are 80 million Germans who must be crazy right now and are waiting for a photo that shows the ball hasn’t gone out of bounds”.
And Japan in all this? Asked after the meeting about the controversial goal, Kaoru Mitoma, who clarified that the ball was only “half out” confessed : “If I had been told that there is no goal because he is out, I would not have been disappointed.” His coach, Hajime Moriyasu, told him: “Nowadays there is a lot of technology on the big football stage. And if the ball was really out of bounds, it wouldn’t have counted. The referee decided the ball was in and we respected that. But we were ready to accept it anyway. A goal that is very expensive for the Japanese, qualified and first in group E, and for Germany, eliminated.