“Robbed”, “No Shame Without VAR”: In Portugal angry

The VAR system is in the headlines again. This time it is not a critique of the system itself but of its absence. Hakwon failed to notice last night (Saturday) in Portugal’s game against Serbia (2: 2) that Cristiano Ronaldo’s ball went full circle across the goal line in extra time and did not confirm a winning goal stolen from the European champions.

Ronaldo himself responded diplomatically but expressed his displeasure with the incident. The media in Portugal was less gentle and of course the major newspapers in the country from the Iberian Peninsula devoted their Sunday covers to the game and the scandalous event.

“Robbed”, reads the title of “Record” and the picture of Ronaldo protesting in front of Hakwon is on the gate. “It simply came to our notice then. The referee robbed Portugal of the victory. You do not need a VAR to see that the ball has crossed the line, “it was written.

In “Ebola” an identical picture was placed on the gate and it was written in a pun on the VAR: “Shameless”. It was also written: “The judges provided excuses and left CR7 frustrated.” In “O Jogo” Ronaldo is seen throwing the captain’s armband on the front page of the newspaper and written in free translation “VAR SWEET VAR”.

Portugal will try to recover from the moral blow it suffered in opening the World Cup qualifying campaign with an away win against Luxembourg on Tuesday. In June, just before the Euros, she will be hosted in Spain and play against the Israeli team in a friendly match.