MOSCOW _ The World Cup entered the 21st century Saturday when Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha used a video replay to reverse one call on the field and goal-line technology to confirm another in France's 2-1 win over Australia in Kazan.
Under the Video Assistant Referee system, or VAR, a video referee watching the game from an operations center in Moscow can alert the on-field referee electronically when he believes a "clear and obvious" error has been made in one of four key areas: penalties, red cards, goals and mistaken identity, such as giving a caution to the wrong player.
If the on-field referee agrees an error might have been made, he can pause play and view the field-side replay system.
That is what Cunha did before awarding a penalty kick to France when a replay showed Antoine Griezmann was fouled in the box by Australian defender Joshua Risdon, leading to the game's first goal.
Less than 20 minutes later, goal-line technology _ which relies on electronic aids to determine if a ball cleared the goal line _ confirmed Paul Pogba's game-winning score after it struck the underside of the crossbar.
VAR was also used in Friday's Spain-Portugal game, but in that case the video confirmed the original call. The system, which is used in MLS and a handful of other leagues around the world, has not been warmly received by many players and coaches who believe stopping a game to review a video interrupts the flow. But French coach Didier Deschamps, whose team benefited from both calls Saturday, was pleased.
"I'm not going to complain about the use of video today," he said. "It helped correct a mistake."
