The Spanish team fell unexpectedly against Japan in a match that they thought was under control and that got complicated in the blink of an eye. Luis Enrique’s men dominated the match with relative comfort during the first half, but two electric actions by the Japanese turned the tables and later neutralized the inert attempts of ‘La Roja’ to tie.
A tragedy of 3 minutes. Three were the minutes that passed from the first Japanese goal to the controversial second, and also three that the Spanish team was eliminated. A scenario that seemed impossible. Tanaka’s goal was accompanied by Costa Rica’s comeback, which turned the group upside down, leaving Germany and Spain out. Only the German goals restored calm to the Spanish team, which went into “collapse mode”, as Luis Enrique himself said at a press conference.
Does the ball come out or not? Tanaka’s second goal was subject to VAR review for a few minutes, since according to the replays offered to us by television it seemed that the ball centered by Mitoma had clearly gone out.
Hence the stupefaction of the whole world when the referee gave the second Japanese goal as valid. Social networks became a hotbed of publications that, relying on television images, insisted that the ball had crossed the lime line.
A matter of perspective. However, there are two things to keep in mind. The first is that the ball, to be considered out, has to come out in its entirety. That is to say, if there is a millimeter part that coincides with the line, it is inside. The second is that none of the images offered corresponded to a zenithal plane, which is the ideal one on these occasions to assess the perspective and three-dimensionality of a spherical shape. The closest shot we had was this one.
The explanation. Several users on social networks were encouraged to explain with highly illustrative visual examples why Japan’s second goal was valid. One of them was @pablocarballido, whose tweet was shared by different media. Here we can see how, changing the perspective, very different realities are appreciated.
More tests. Other tweeters posted more examples showing that the ball had not come out completely. Both by creating a grid at the exact moment of impact of the ball, and by sharing the virtual recreation of the play made by beINSports.
Via @pablocarballido
