In the wake of Australia's 2-one defeat to France in their Environment Cup opener, headlines screamed of injustice after Les Bleus scored courtesy of a VAR penalty final decision and a mad deflection.
Correct adequate, it was a resilient and mainly disciplined general performance from the Socceroos, but if Bert van Marwijk's guys are to mature as unit in this tournament and these to arrive, there should be a deeper reaction than basically pointing blame at technologies.
The conclusion to award very hot favourites France a penalty following a evaluate was tough for the Socceroos and their supporters to acquire, but that does not mean it was an incorrect one. Correct-back again Josh Risdon did clip the heel of Antoine Griezmann, bringing the Atletico Madrid marksman down within the place.
But, relatively than re-analyzing that solitary 2nd frame-by-frame, above and about, it would serve Australia well to realize how the opportunity offered itself in the to start with occasion.
Getting held on so tightly to retain scores amount for the first 45 minutes, the Socceroos ended up simply just a tiny naive in the wrong predicament.
Ten minutes into the next half, right after providing absent possession cheaply once again, this time with an aimless ball down the remaining, the Socceroos had been exposed when Aaron Mooy was overwhelmed in midfield by a delightful contact from N'Golo Kante, who promptly noticed Paul Pogba in acres of room.
For the first time in the game, the Manchester United guy was ready to operate at Australia's defensive line and subsequently open up 2018 Tomi Juric Jersey them up. Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe -- who, by the way, was marginally offside when Pogba performed his pass -- both equally obtained in guiding their markers. This forced Risdon to make a split-2nd conclusion, in which he selected to go to ground in an try to get a final-ditch touch on the ball.
Replays suggest he might just have obtained the faintest deflection, causing really acceptable conjecture amid soccer pundits across not only Australia but the entire Mathew Leckie World Cup Jersey.
That apart, the lesson for the Socceroos has nothing at all to do with VAR. It is that offering the ball up so conveniently and so typically will commonly come at a value against truly earth-class players.
Recognising this, most likely it wasn't clever for Mooy to push so challenging and significant up the pitch.