Japan advances with some controversy surrounding their victory over Spain

I didn't watch the game because it was going to air during a time that I would not be able to and also continue to be employed. I did read a lot about it after the fact and while I am happy that Japan will advance because I have a soft spot for Asian teams in the World Cup, the celebrations is kind of marred by a very bad mistake on the part of the officials.

Personally, I feel that VAR should have caught this and the fact that it hasn't suggests to me that there might be some playing favorites that is going on with the officiating. That would be truly tragic if it was true.


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I don't think anyone really gave Japan a shot at winning this game. They were massive underdogs on the betting lines. After seeing the thrashing that Spain had given other teams, it seemed as though Japan was just going to try to not get embarrassed. Well they didn't get embarrassed at all and now are flying high.

There is some controversy on one of the goals with many fans complaining that the ball actually went out of bounds before the shot took place.


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This has been making the rounds on social media from multiple angles and it is kind of confusing to me that this goal wasn't disallowed after the fact.


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The best explanation of why the goal was allowed comes from the rules themselves regarding out of play: the ball is out when “it has wholly passed over the goal line or touchline on the ground or in the air." This can be really tough to determine because if something is hovering over a line, it can be very difficult to determine, especially at an angle, whether or not it is actually fully over the line or not.

In the end, and it took a REALLY LONG TIME for the VAR officials to come to a decision, the goal was allowed.

Try and put whatever bias you have aside for a second and look very closely at those pictures. It actually does look like a small portion of the ball is, in fact, hovering over the touch line. I'm sure this was a very difficult decision to make but in the end I agree with it. We are talking a millimeter here and even if it was a tiny bit over the line, this doesn't change the fact that this definitely wasn't deliberate, would never be used as an actual tactic, and taking the goal away (which was a brilliant goal btw) would set a bad precedent in my opinion.

Both Spain and Japan end up going through to the knockout stages anyway so it doesn't affect them a great deal.


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It is pretty remarkable that Japan ended up winning when you look at the statistics. If you were to look at only these stats and then ask someone which team do you think won, no one would choose the team on the left.

Personally I am still very happy that VAR is a part of the game as we are already seeing a dramatic decline in the amount of theatrics that players are utilizing in the hopes of getting a free kick. This VAR intervention for the goal in this game was probably one of the toughest decisions that have had to be made since its implementation and for me, I think the decision was a correct one.



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11 comments
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Among the matches I watched last night, the most enjoyable match for me was the Japan match. It was great that they went to the top.

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Bro the stats in that match was crazy, Japan did not care as long as Spain did not get a goal there and was willing to defend with their last breath. Congratulations to them once again they deserve the victory.

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someone showed me a Tweet about how this is the only time that a team has won a World Cup match with less than 20% possession. amazing.

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As what they've said : "Germany was out by 1mm". Lol, I laughed so hard. Tough luck for the Germans. Congrats to Japan.

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A mi me gustó Japón y creo que este mundial, los apoyaré😁.

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Qatar has hosted a turn where giants keep stumbling and underdogs really had their shoulder up, gees! Matches are getting unpredictable and I just didnt expect Japan to win over Spain.
I have questions for the appliance of VAR and technology sometimes kill the rhythm and opposes the advantages of big teams.

What if 3 successive goals are denied for the cause of offsides and the part of hand hanging a thread and goal denied. That break of play breaks spirit and I dont support that.
Technology has demerits and thats visible here at Qatar.

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There are plusses and minuses and I think they need to be very careful how they implement it. We don't want to end up in a situation that American Football found itself in during the 80's where it seems almost every play was reviewed and therefore games took something crazy like 5 hours to complete.

Used sparingly, I think VAR is a good addition because it eliminates a lot of the diving. I can already see that most teams that are known for this sort of behavior aren't doing it as often because there is a much greater chance they will get caught.

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fair points about VAR for sure. Let's see if that scenario actually happens before we go down that road though. So far I feel as though it is keeping teams a lot more honest.

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Yes I do agree as it has taken the players theatrics out of the game as they know they will be found out. The rolling around as though they had been shot by a sniper used to irritate me no end and wish those players were red carded. We still see players get an elbow or a push and try and milk it. The decision was right even though we are talking millimeters and unlike other sports this would have been ruled out.

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I'm not talking to very many people who are opposed to VAR but the only real complaint that anyone states is that it has the potential to make the games a lot longer, which is what we are seeing with some of these near 10 minutes of extra time. If it carries on in this direction we'll need extra,,,,extra-time.

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