On a night of bizarre incidents, two of them centred around the goals.
White headed in England’s opener from a corner, but there was a check by the video assistant referee (VAR) with Adam Wharton appearing to block Gimenez in the build-up.
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright said on ITV: “Come the World Cup, they’d probably look at that and give it as a foul.”
USA Women head coach Emma Hayes added: “VAR was on and off tonight. I think nine times out of 10 blocking someone off like that is a foul and I was surprised it wasn’t given.”
Then came Uruguay’s equaliser.
White and Federico Vinas came together inside the box – and the referee originally allowed play to continue. But he was asked to go to the monitor by VAR after which he awarded a penalty that Valverde scored.
“I think the referee was in a very good position when he gave the initial decision,” former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson said on BBC Radio 5 live.
“That’s nothing more than clumsy from White. There is connection but he got the ball first. One of those decisions where if it’s not given on field you don’t interfere.”
Leave a Reply