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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Matt Maltby

VAR chaos as Portugal penalty is ruled out - and Switzerland get one instead

There were farcical scenes in the first Nations League semi-final encounter after the referee overturned his decision to award a penalty to Portugal - and instead handed Switzerland a spot-kick with the help of VAR.

Hosts Portugal were leading 1-0 thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's stunning first-half free-kick and thought they had the chance to double their lead after Bernardo Silva was fouled in the box.

But in the build-up to that attack, Swiss star Steven Zuber had gone down in the box at the other end of the pitch, an incident that was being looked at by the VAR system before Silva claimed a foul.

And, after initially awarding the decision to Portugal, German official Felix Brych went to investigate both incidents on the pitchside monitor, beginning with Switzerland's call as that occurred first.

Felix Brych (C) looks at a replay on the video assistant referee (VAR) monitor (JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT/EPA-EFE/REX)

Having spent some time watching various angles, Brych made the somewhat controversial decision to award Switzerland a penalty after deciding Nelson Semedo had tripped Zuber in the box.

The huge call was met with a chorus of boos around the stadium, and the home fans were further angered as Ricardo Rodriguez duly stepped up the level the score.

Portugal led 1-0 at half-time in this Nations League semi-final with Switzerland thanks to Ronaldo's first goal in the competition in his first appearance.

Switzerland's Ricardo Rodriguez (third right) celebrates scoring his goal (PA)

The superstar forward scored from a 25-yard free-kick that left Yann Sommer wrong-footed, though the keeper perhaps should have done better.

The visitors were the better side in the opening 45 minutes, however, with Haris Seferovic missing a couple of decent opportunities and hitting the crossbar with another, while Xherdan Shaqiri had a close-range shot saved.

But Switzerland were level as Rodriguez's penalty found its way under the arms of Rui Patricio, making for an entertaining finale to the semi-final.

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