France squeezes past Australia thankful for goal-line technology

From now on the name of Andres Cunha will be another flake in the memory of myriad football geeks. On Saturday afternoon in Kazan, he became the first referee to award a penalty using the video assistant referee - VAR.

France's Antoine Griezmann and Djibril Sidibe celebrate after the match. Toru Hanai

His recourse to the eye in the sky came early in the second half of the Group C match between France and Australia.

The France midfielder Paul Pogba sent the ball forward for Antoine Griezmann and Cunha first thought that Josh Risdon took the ball off Griezmann’s boot. So human. Such error.

But the bigwigs at world football’s governing body have empowered their officials with TV aides to ensure the greatest show on earth does not suffer drab normality.

Cunha showed a turn off pace which wouldn’t have gone amiss in either forward line to speed to the side of the pitch to review the action. In a matter of seconds, the 41-year-old Uruguayan was pointing to the penalty spot and sanctioning Risdon for his fault.

Griezmann thrashed the ball past the Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan to give France a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later though, it was all rather old school. Aaron Mooy swung over a free-kick from the right and the French defender Samuel Umtiti threw his hands up at the ball. Cunha didn’t need another look.

From the resulting penalty, Miles Jedinak sent the France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way to level the match.

With the much fancied French players failing to find any fluidity against the disciplined Australians, coach Didier Deschamps sent on the Nabil Fekir and Olivier Giroud for Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.

The combination of flair and muscle did the trick. In a penalty area melee nine minutes from time Paul Pogba toepoked a lob over Ryan. The ball seemed to bounce over the line before Ryan gathered it to his chest.

Eight years ago in the last 16 of the World Cup in South Africa, England’s Frank Lampard had a valid goal disallowed in similar circumstances.

But that was then. And this is Russia. And the brave new world. France, powered by goal line technology, had a 2-1 lead and Deschamps’ men held on for the three points. They, like the technology, can only get better.