If the second goal wasn't the dagger, this one almost certainly is. I say almost, remembering Scotland...
And actually, how do they do VAR communications? Are the refs required to speak to each other in English?
Yeah at 2-0 there’s a chance. They aren’t coming back now. This has more of a chance of ending 6-0 than 3-3.
What was she off by? Less than the width of the heel of her boot? That’s not what VAR should be used for; that’s not a clear and obvious error for me and if that’s the way it’s gonna be utilized the game shouldn’t have it at all. If the AR can’t spot it because she doesn’t have slow motion or 25x scope vision, it’s not an error. The game yesterday was even worse; 2 PKs and a terrible red and VAR/the ref missed every big call. What’s the point of it?
Offside is a binary condition. It’s either offside or it’s not. It’s like saying someone is a little pregnant.
I agree to a point, and I've argued that offside decisions -- and certainly goalkeeper encroachment decisions -- should be left to the AR because he/she can hear the thump of the ball. But in real time, that certainly looked to be offside (not helped by the commentators' "she was in an onside position when she received the ball," which doesn't matter). If VAR had shown otherwise, OK. But it didn't.
That’s not the spirit of the offside rule; the CMR player gained zero advantage from being 4mm off and it’s not something that could have been seen by anyone on the field. That’s not a clear and obvious error. Based on this WC and really last summer, the game can do without VAR. Add a couple linesmen and call it a day.
The problem isn’t VAR when it comes to offside decisions. The problem is the current interpretation of the offside law. They’ve got it set up now so that if any part of the attacker’s body is offside, the attacker is offside. That interpretation wasn’t put into play with video review in mind. As a result, these incredibly close plays are getting overturned. What they need to do is go back to the old interpretation where offside was judged by the torso. It’s a much truer representation of what the law was meant to do.
I'm glad the commentary made it clear that the ref push came because she was in the way. This FIFA direction has not been great. Adventures in goalkeeping and everything... unpunished. Unkel was going to say something and then no...
I understand why there was a closeup of putting the contact lens in. I don't think I understand the closeup of the run.
Offside isn’t the only problem with VAR; yesterday’s game was an example of why decisions shouldn’t be left to the ref. It’s poorly implemented. I’ll also be interested in how much stoppage time is actually put on, because on the basis of the actual stoppages there should be about 10 minutes worth and I bet there’s no more than half that.
That’s the spirit, champ. Something that’s been around for two years isn’t completely perfect yet, so let’s ditch it.