CAVANI HAD A POINT

EDINSON CAVANI punching the pitch-side VAR monitor and toppling it over summed up Uruguay’s anger at their World Cup exit. You’ve probably wished you could give it a smack at times, too.

We’ve seen a few contentious calls, along with some suggestions that referees and VARs aren’t working in unison, and I can understand some of Uruguay’s fury.

There was nothing in their first penalty shout. Ghana’s Daniel Amartey got a toe to the ball when Darwin Nunez dropped down. German referee Daniel Siebert was sent to his monitor by VAR Bastian Dankert but was right to stand by his decision.

I do wonder if that had an impact later when Cavani was fouled by Alidu Seidu. It’s possible Dankert didn’t want to send

Siebert to his monitor after his earlier penalty recommendation was dismissed.

That was a mistake because, watching the replays, Cavani was fouled. He got goalside of Seidu and was caught. Uruguay were right to feel robbed, though took it too far.

They practically chased the officials down the tunnel at the end. Sadly that’s part of life as a ref. And now we’re entering the knockout stages, the pressure increases.