MARGAO: A Group B match with no bearing on quarterfinal qualification descended into chaos at the PJN Stadium at Margao on Monday.
It wasn’t clear whether the long whistle was blown by Moroccan referee Bouchra Karboubi but play appeared to end with players drifting to their dugouts.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
More than 10 minutes had elapsed when the players returned to the pitch but didn’t take positions based on formation. Instead, they began passing the ball around in a contrived fashion around the centre of the pitch. A scene nothing short of farcical, especially for a World Cup.
It wasn’t a show of protest, it was learned afterwards, but it emenated from a sense of sportsmanship and solidarity for players’ mutual safety.
“We had cooled down,” said New Zealand goal scorer Emily Clegg. “Playing on would risk injury. Besides, we had an early flight to catch.”
“Never seen anything like this before,” said Kiwi coach Leon Birnie. “We really don’t know what really happened and why we had to resume after the match had ended. But with the risk of injury, we decided to play out the seven minutes in the manner we did.”
One cannot rule out play stopped for lightning flashes that potentially endangers players on the pitch. What’s baffling is the lack of communication between match officials and the coaches about the reasons for the stoppage, then resumption of play. At the time of writing, there was still no official word on the matter.
Just as well, the match was inconsequential as far as booking a quarterfinal berth was concerned. But what if it did matter? Birnie replied, “I really don’t know.”
Friederkie Kromp, his opposite number, had a more definite answer, however. “The referee’s decision is final. We would obey it no matter what,” she said.
For the record Loreen Bender scored a brace for Germany, striking in the fifth and 54th minutes. Sehitler scored from a penalty on the hour. Emily Clegg drew level for New Zealand in the 10th minute.
Germany finished with an all win record in the four-team Group B, followed by Nigeria who beat Chile 2-1 in Bhubaneswar.
Their likely opponents in the quarterfinals hinge on the USA v Morocco match to be held here later in the evening and group A rivals Brazil v out-of-contention India encounter in Bhubaneswar.
