Female referee with VAR novelty
New Zealand shocked ex-world champions at the start of the World Cup
07/20/2023 10:59 am
Even a missed penalty cannot stop New Zealand’s footballers. The eleven of the World Cup hosts showed a strong performance against favorite Norwegians and narrowly prevailed at the start of the tournament. The referee presents an innovation in the video evidence.
New Zealand started their home World Cup with historic success. The outsiders surprisingly defeated the former world champion Norway 1-0 (0-0) in the opening game and celebrated their redeeming first victory in their sixth World Cup participation. In Group A, both national teams will meet Switzerland and the Philippines in the course of the final round.
In front of 42,137 fans at Auckland’s Eden Park, which was not completely sold out, the New Zealanders were expectedly limited in terms of play, but they gave it their all. The audience meant a New Zealand football record – for women and men. The hosts won around 60 percent of their duels, Norway had a hard time despite their former world footballer Ada Hegerberg as a fixed point. Goal chances, especially Norway, were rare before the break. In the second half it was Hannah Wilkinson (48) from Melbourne City who fueled the enthusiasm for the World Cup in the country, which could still be increased. The goalscorer once played for MSV Duisburg.
Norway then tried hard to equalize, Tuva Hansen from Bayern Munich (81) only hit the crossbar. Later, the Bayern Munich defender got the ball on the arm in the penalty area, Ria Percival (90th) shot the penalty kick to the crossbar as well. Previously, the new speaker explanation of a video evidence decision premiered. Japanese referee Yoshimi Yamashita explained to spectators and TV viewers that there was a hand penalty for the co-host.
Australia’s star is missing at the start
Norway’s Hansen got the ball on the arm, Yamashita missed the rule violation in real time. The referee’s explanation over the stadium loudspeakers lasted only a few seconds. Even before the finals in Australia and New Zealand, the top referees of the world association FIFA were convinced of the usefulness of the loudspeaker explanation. “We want to create more transparency and more understanding for the referee’s decision,” said referee boss Pierluigi Collina. It is expected that the loudspeaker declaration will also be used in the national leagues such as the Bundesliga in the medium term.
At 12 p.m. CEST (ARD and in the live ticker at ntv.de) co-host Australia will also join the tournament. In contrast to New Zealand, the Australians are considered title contenders, and 80,000 fans are expected at the Sydney stadium against Ireland. Star player Sam Kerr, however, is temporarily out of the game with a calf injury. Germany has its first game against Morocco on Monday.
Just a few hours before kick-off, an act of violence shook New Zealand. A gunman opened fire on a construction site at the site of the opening match, killing at least two people. The shooter himself was also dead, police said. Other people were injured. The crime scene was not far from the Norwegian team hotel.