Ghana robbed of penalty in England draw, VAR ‘went for a coffee’, jokes coach

Officials let an uninspired England side off the hook in their drab goalless draw with Ghana, denying the African side a clear penalty in one of the very few moments of action in Foxborough – and coach Carlos Queiroz joked the VAR had gone “for a coffee” at the crucial moment.
England defender Ezri Konsa went airborne with a reckless tackle to stop Prince Abu as he bore down on goal in the second half, only for referee Said Martinez to completely ignore the incident and for the video assistant referee Armando Villarreal to stay silent.
There was little doubt that it was a foul, and even English official Darren Cann, who is working as a television analyst at the tournament, believed a spot kick should have been awarded.
“First and foremost, as an England fan, I’m absolutely delighted that it wasn’t given, but I have to be honest. For me, this should have been referred to the referee,” Cann said.
“Konsa makes no contact at all with the ball. He brings down his opponent. He’s airborne, he’s out of control, he makes contact with the attacker and no contact with the ball. For me, this is a penalty kick.”
Speaking at the after-match press conference, a clearly furious Queiroz pointedly asked a Fifa official whether VAR was “still working in the World Cup”.

“We still have VAR? It’s working?” he said. “I have some doubts about that because another penalty that they need to give to Ghana, a clear penalty against England [was missed].
“Once again, VAR went for a coffee. It’s natural, I would like to also take my coffees once in a while, but it was a clear penalty, red card.
“You have any doubts about that? You guys who saw the game have any doubts about that or is it only me that was in the game?
“I’m sorry for my sarcasm, but if I say these kind of things seriously they [Fifa] punish me, so I hope you understand that I’m joking.”