Al Wakrah, Qatar – Despite being out of the World Cup, a 2-0 win against Ghana on Friday, Uruguay Coach Diego Alonso blamed an officiating error in the previous match against the team for his country’s failure to make it out of the group stage. portugal,
“We are out because of Portugal’s penalties and goal difference,” Alonso said through a FIFA translator. “This is not the matter [from a 0-0 draw against South Korea], rather the opposite. We are not out because of that point. This is due to the penalty awarded in extra time, which according to FIFA was not a penalty.”
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The penalty in question was awarded in the 89th minute with Portugal leading 1–0. uruguay defender Jose Maria Jimenez Made a sliding challenge in the penalty box and as he fell backwards the ball hit his hand.
Iranian referee Alireza Faghani initially did not call for a penalty, but was advised to consult a VAR review, which led to the decision. bruno fernandes The penalty was converted to make the score 2–0.
Alonso has a valid hold in the wake of the handball rule clarification in 2021 by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), when it said it would not be a handball when “the position of the hand is for support when falling or rising from the ground.”
– Johnson: Why Portugal’s VAR handball penalty was the wrong call
However, this did not change the fact that Uruguay started matchday 3 level with South Korea on points, while trailing by one goal on the goal difference tiebreaker and having scored two fewer goals. For teams level on points, goal difference is the first tiebreaker and goals scored second.
When South Korea took a 2–1 lead in extra time against Portugal, it meant that Uruguay needed one more goal to advance on goal difference. That goal never came.
“We had many chances to do it, but in the end, it was not possible,” said Alonso. “And, of course, the emotional side was important, but still we tried to fight to qualify. We had four, five chances in the last minutes, but unfortunately it was not possible.”
Making his tournament debut, georgian de arrasqueta After the goalkeeper scored both goals in the first half for Uruguay Sergio Rochet Penalty saved from Ghana’s captain Andre Ayew, Both the teams started the day with chances to advance and ended with a result.
