Match 16: BEL : EGY - ABATTI (BRA)

I don't think many simulation cards in the penalty area in the VAR era are truly easy. There are some, with one-on-one duels, that are obvious, yes. A player splitting two players with the referee looking from behind is inherently risky for the referee. Frankly, it's why Doku does it, no? If he can get the whistle and there is any contact from either player, it's going to stand. So it's one of the few places where the risk of simulation is proably worth it in today's game.

Credit for Abatti for not falling for it. Like I said, I wish he had gone the step further to nail the simulation in real-time. But I'd say two things:

1) You don't want to give simulation and have it turned into a penalty, which is a risk and
2) Doku is the victim of the bad tackle Abatti did miss at 17' and Abatti would know/remember that... carding a guy for diving, even when guilty, could be unnecessarily inflammatory in this overall context

 

Will be an own goal, it seems.

 

I loved Abatti at the CWC and I think he shows great promise. That wasn't bad, but it was uneven. When one countrymate had the opener and another is a "reserve" but just did the Copa America final, there's not too much room for error if you want to be around in the later stages.

Not saying he's done by any stretch, but I don't think he's my darkhorse candidate for the final anymore, either. Will be very interesting to see the next two Brazilian referee appointments.