Was the ball out or not? Germany were knocked out of the World Cup on Thursday by a dubious goal, that of the victory of Japan against Spain (2-1), in the other match of group E. If Japan had drawn, Germany would have qualified thanks to their 4-2 victory at the expense of Costa Rica and it was the Japanese who should have packed up.
In the 51st minute, Japan’s Kaoru Mitoma lunged to cross Ao Tanaka, who scored. However, the images and slow motions of television do not make it possible to affirm that the ball had not entirely crossed the limits of the ground at the time of the last pass. In any case, the South African referee Victor Gomes granted the goal after viewing the VAR.
“From my point of view, I believe the ball was half out, but I couldn’t see well due to the speed, I was just focused on scoring,” said the striker, man of the match . There is a possibility that the ball was out, but if it had been and there hadn’t been a goal, I wouldn’t have been disappointed, but on arrival, it was a goal, so I’m happy. »