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Ahead of the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2022, former England legend Wayne Rooney made the choice of playing Lionel Messi at the top of his FIFA World Cup team, with Harry Kane on the bench and maybe the unpopular choice of the keeping Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo out of his team of the tournament.
Ecuador opened the scoring three minutes into the FIFA World Cup 2022 after skipper Enner Valencia found the net with a well-placed press by the entire team. Defender Felix Torres attempted an overhead kick which inadvertently ended up as an assist for his captain who did not do anything wrong in placing the ball into the corner of the net.
But the goal was not to be as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) had a closer look at the event, choosing to rule out the goal instead. Cries of unfairness and corruption began to rise but later graphics proved that it was the right decision.
The incident took place just three minutes into the match, with the Ecuadorians pressing their opponents right into their penalty box. It looked like a straightforward goal for Valencia, and it would have been for the 33-year-old if a new technology had not come into play.
The semi-automated offside technology explained
The newly introduced semi-automated offside technology alerts the video match officials with an automated light to if an attacker receives the ball in an offside position. This means that right before Torres collected the ball, his teammate Michael Estrada had his foot in an offside position which meant his skipper's goal was eventually ruled out.
What happened in the match?
Missing out on that goal did not deter Valencia from scoring yet again after being fouled by goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb. He found the net with a precise penalty before doubling the lead, and his tally with yet another brilliant header after a cross from fullback Harold Preciado.
