Liverpool ‘keeper Alisson Becker has thanked the interventions of VAR during Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Ecuador on Thursday night.
The ex-Roma man was twice sent off in Quito, the capital City of Ecuador, but both decisions were reversed after the incidents were reviewed by officials.
“I think this was the first time this has happened in the history of football,” he said (via the Mirror).
“I think that I acted properly in the moves and I think my teammates helped me a lot, they were incisive in their complaints to the referee. This shows once again the importance of using VAR in football.
“I am happy with the VAR, if it wasn’t for the VAR we’d have been punished unfairly.”
Our No. 1 was involved in two major collisions during the game, one in either half of the World Cup Qualifier.
Firstly, he clashed with Enner Valencia as he rushed out of his goal to clear the ball. The referee reduced Brazil down to 10-men after initially showing the 29-year-old a straight red but following a VAR review, the decision was downgraded to a yellow card.
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Alisson was then shown his second red card of the game in the second half and gave away a penalty after mistiming a punched clearance and making contact with an opponent.
Once again, the decision was overturned and the penalty decision reversed.
The game did end with the spoils being shared and VAR having a rare positive impact on the action – Brazil have already booked their place in the Qatar World Cup that is set to take place at the end of this year.
A lot of supporters, especially in the Premier League, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the impact VAR is having on the game.
Many other nations and leagues around the world appear to have applied the new technology into the game in a smoother fashion compared to us here in England – it’s good to see that one of our players has benefited from the technology this time around, though.