Soccer followers mocked the beginning of the Qatar World Cup after the referee kicked off the sport earlier than the top of the stadium countdown.
Hosts Qatar confronted off towards Ecuador within the first match of the event on Sunday night, shortly after the opening ceremony.
And moments earlier than play received underway, a voice came visiting the Al Bayt Stadium as followers ready to rely down the start of the match from 10 to at least one.
However when it reached 4, the referee determined sufficient was sufficient and opted to blow for the sport to start out.
Three minutes later there was extra controversy.
Ecuador thought that they had taken the lead by means of Enner Valencia, just for the purpose to be dominated out for off-side.
The previous West Ham man thought he’d scored however VAR minimize brief his celebrations by deeming him to be off-side when floundering keeper Saad Al Sheeb got here speeding out to try to clear the ball.
Followers within the stadium and throughout the glove have been left surprised by the choice to rule out Valencia’s header.
Valencia was off-side as there was just one defender behind Al Sheeb after he raced out to try to punch the ball clear.
The Ecuadorean, nonetheless, didn’t have to attend lengthy to get his identify again on the scoresheet.
Valencia was awarded a penalty within the fifteenth minute after being up-ended by Al Sheeb as he went by means of on purpose.
The striker made no mistake from the spot, cooly slotting the ball previous the despairing Al Sheeb.
And the 33-year-old doubled his and Ecuador’s tally simply after the half-hour mark with a header to present the South American’s a 2-0 lead.
They’d maintain the benefit by means of a scoreless second half to make an excellent begin to the event and depart the hosts in disarray.
This text was initially revealed by The Solar and reproduced with permission
