3 flashpoints show growing pains of VAR in Chile's win over Cameroon
It's only the early days of using Video Assistant Referees in football and, from the evidence of Sunday's meeting between Chile and Cameroon, it's clear that it needs work.
La Roja defeated the Indomitable Lions 2-0 in Moscow's first Confederations Cup clash, but there were three key flashpoints during the encounter which called - or, in the case of Cameroon's legitimate shouts for a goal, should've called - the blokes uncomfortably hunched around a small desk into action.
(Photo courtesy: @makefootballgr8)
Here's how those moments panned out:
Incident 1: Cameroon rues lack of VAR help
Defender Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui - a hero with two goals over Cameroon's successful Africa Cup of Nations venture in February - was denied another starring role for his country when he leapt to nod the ball beyond Chile's second-choice 'keeper Johnny Herrera after 17 minutes.
The delivery from Benjamin Moukandjo was expert, but referee Damir Skomina spotted an infraction as the ball honed in on the 6-yard box. The Slovenian deemed a wee tickle from Vincent Aboubakar on Arturo Vidal a foul - a harsh decision that didn't get reversed by the video referees.
The fair-looking goal would've put Cameroon up 1-0.
Incident 2: Vexed Vargas' effort ruled offside
In the dying moments of the opening period, Chile's representatives looked pretty foolish when a choreographed celebration was cut short by the VARs.
Continuing his trend of producing his best work at the international level, Eduardo Vargas latched onto a Vidal pass before burying the ball past a helpless Fabrice Ondoa - but he started his run too early.
(Photo courtesy: @DiegoIsWrong)
The decision caused consternation from players and fans alike, but a still of what the linesman saw revealed that Vargas' chest - an area of his body that he can legally score with - was in an offside position.
A good call which saw the teams regroup at half-time with the score at 0-0.
Incident 3: Chile gets away with one
Vargas was unsurprisingly rattled when he was victim of a raised flag in injury time.
When Alexis Sanchez had finished dizzying Ondoa with his footwork, Vargas was comfortably onside when the Arsenal man struck the ball. The linesman, however, thought otherwise.
But if the fellas upstairs wound their tape further back, they would've seen Sanchez offside when he was unleashed by Leonardo Valencia. The goal shouldn't have stood.
(Photo courtesy: @SFR_Sport)
The VAR mandate - that it will be used for game-changing decisions - means that this should've been promptly disallowed. Growing pains in introducing this system into football are expected, but when the offside in Chile's second goal isn't spotted the FIFA training and preparation in implementing VAR has to be questioned.