SOCIAL media was quick to Putin the boot after a controversial VAR verdict robbed Spain against Russia. The World Cup hosts reached the quarter-finals on penalties - after Ilya Kutepov escaped punishment despite grabbing Spanish defender Sergio Ramos in the area with the tie locked at 1-1 deep into extra time. 4 Sergei Ignashevich, centre, tangled with Sergio Ramos late in extra time with the score at 1-1 but VAR ruled no penalty Credit: AP:Associated Press And Twitter more than hinted at a conspiracy once referee Bjorn Kuipers waved away Spain's heated protests. Memes with Russian president Vladimir Putin in the VAR room poured in. One of the more diplomatic tweets said: "VAR not giving a penalty against Russia with 5 minutes to go? Nothing dodgy about that AT ALL." Another armchair follower, jokingly perhaps, tweeted: "Refs family is probably been held hostage in a a cave somewhere in Siberia." 4 VAR referee in Moscow sees no Spanish penalty #sparus pic.twitter.com/TXtZcnnR3L — tom jamieson (@jamiesont) July 1, 2018 Is Mr Putin operating VAR !? — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 1, 2018 And one supporter suggested: "There is no way VAR goes against Russia in overtime in Russia." Another tweeter slammed BBC pundits for neglecting the incident. He said: "Spain denied penalty despite VAR. Russia still under doping suspicions. @GaryLineker and his fellow BBC pundits reaction? Can't get their noses far enough up the Russians collective a**e. And we have no option but to pay for these idiots." But others blamed wily Spain veteran Ramos for setting a bad example - claiming he regularly pulled at players in the box - and claimed the clash was 50:50. Russia celebrate as Iago Aspas' penalty is saved in dramatic World Cup shootout with Spain Cesc Fabregas looks on in disbelief as Russia fans celebrate knocking Spain out of the World Cup on penalties VAR not giving a penalty against Russia with 5 minutes to go? Nothing dodgy about that AT ALL. pic.twitter.com/R7eOk5yhEn — HLTCO (@HLTCO) July 1, 2018 The VAR room is not secure enough to give a 114th minute penalty against Russia, no — Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) July 1, 2018 That is what Ramos does every time when it’s reversed and he latched onto defender. No penalty — Jeremy Small (@JeremyASmall) July 1, 2018 Russian fan downs pint of beer as they celebrate beating Spain on penalties and progress to World Cup quarter-finals 4 Russia celebrate their shootout victory as they reach the quarter-finals in controversial style Credit: Getty Images - Getty 4 Sergio Ramos looks a broken man as Spain exit despite dominating possession Credit: Getty - Contributor Refs family is probably been held hostage in a cave somewhere in Siberia — Callum (@CallumAVFC__) July 1, 2018 Spain denied penalty despite VAR. Russia still under doping suspicions. @GaryLineker and his fellow BBC pundits reaction? Can’t get their noses far enough up the Russians collective a**e. And we have no option but to pay for these idiots — Mike Newman (@MikeNewman6) July 1, 2018<doc-sep>To every football fan's surprise, Russia managed to do the unthinkable and dump Spain out of the World Cup. The host nation's shootout victory against the winners of 2010 was yet another upset in a tournament full of them, and despite Spain boasting the likes of Diego Costa, Isco, David Silva, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos and David de Gea, they were unable to reach the quarter-finals. After Russia's incredible efforts, you'd think it'd be the players getting all the headlines, wouldn't you? Well, perhaps in any other country, but this is Russia, which means one man always takes centre stage: Vladimir Putin. After a controversial VAR verdict seemed to rob Spain against Russia, everyone started making the joke that Putin must have had a hand in it. These are the best Vladimir Putin memes from the World Cup.<doc-sep>SOCHI, Russia — VAR has grabbed center stage at the World Cup, with the system that was supposed to provide "minimum interference" instead having a major and highly controversial impact. The final games in Group B on Monday were heading into injury time with Portugal on course to top their group and Spain set to finish second, when the advice of the Video Assistant Referee officials in two separate games changed everything. In Kaliningrad, Spain were awarded an equalizer to snatch a 2-2 draw against Morocco when an Iago Aspas goal was given after VAR helped Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov to reverse a mistaken offside call. At the same time in Saransk, Paraguay official Enrique Caceres was persuaded to give Iran a penalty for a handball by Portugal's Cedric Soares that could hardly be considered deliberate. Karim Ansarifard netted the spot-kick, earning Iran a 1-1 draw, and relegating the European champions to second place in the section. Now Cristiano Ronaldo and his team must face Uruguay in the last 16. In contrast, Spain will probably be happier with a tie against hosts Russia in Moscow and could now have a theoretically easier path to the final. That hardly sits well with FIFA's statement as they introduced the new system to the biggest tournament on Earth, saying: "Our goal is minimum interference for maximum benefit." Of course, that was a reference to the flow of the game itself rather than the potential impact decisions could have further down the line. Morocco's Noureddine Amrabat made clear his feelings at the end of Monday's game as he looked into a television camera and mouthed: "VAR, it's bullshit". But while Spain's equalizer was correctly given, the decisions in Saransk were more controversial. Ronaldo missed a penalty awarded after the referee reversed his decision, and was later shown a yellow card following a review of a possible elbow offense. It had the look of a fudged decision when an elbow would normally lead to a red for violent conduct. "An elbow is a red card in the rules. In the rules it doesn't say if it is (Lionel) Messi or Ronaldo," fumed Iran coach Carlos Queiroz, who said VAR was "not going well". Iran are now out, and they leave a competition that is being dominated by VAR to an extent possibly greater than the system's critics could have imagined. There have already been 20 penalties given at this World Cup, a tournament record before the group stage has even concluded. Many of those, such as Andreas Granqvist's winner for Sweden against South Korea, were awarded after confirmation by VAR. Yet the Swedes were also the victims of a major officiating error when they were denied an early penalty in their defeat against Germany for a foul by Jerome Boateng on Marcus Berg that was clear on slow-motion replays. "If we have the system it's very unfortunate that he doesn't feel he can go and have a look," said Sweden coach Janne Andersson of Polish referee Szymon Marciniak. As the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the guardians of the laws of the game, say, only the referee can initiate a review. One of the officials in the Video Assistant Referee team sees an incident and tells the referee, who then decides whether to review it. The system is clearly not flawless, and that inevitably leads to frustrations. There might also be a concern that reviews of slowed-down replays can make in-game incidents appear worse than they were in reality. In addition, the system can still lead to confusion for fans in the stadium who do not have the same grasp of what is happening as television viewers. FIFA will have been braced for the criticism, and will defend the system during a briefing on Friday, at the end of the group stage, at which refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina and VAR project leader Roberto Rosetti will appear. "It will enable us to present detailed analysis and statistics illustrating the results of VAR during the initial phase," world football's governing body said. — AFP<doc-sep>MOSCOW, Russia — President Vladimir Putin told Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov that nobody was going to judge his team if they lost to Spain in the World Cup last 16 on Sunday — a match they improbably won. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, after Russia knocked the 2010 champions out on penalties in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, that Putin — who watched the game on TV — had not put any pressure on the team to win. “Before the match, around noon, the president called the coach and wished him well,” Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as saying. “He said that under Cherchesov’s leadership, our guys have already accomplished the impossible — made it out of the group,” said Peskov. “Putin also noted that regardless of the outcome of the match, no one in our country was going to judge them.” Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up Putin is inextricably linked with this year’s tournament after helping win hosting rights in a disputed FIFA vote in 2010. Russia then spent a record $13 billion giving many of the 11 host cities their first major face lifts, since the Soviet Union’s collapse. But Putin’s decision not to personally attend Russia’s first World Cup knockout game in the post-Soviet era fed suspicions that the Kremlin believed the team would lose. Russia and Spain finished extra time with the score at 1-1. Goalkeeper and captain Igor Akinfeev saved two spot kicks, as Russia came out on top 4-3 in the penalty shootout. Russia will face the winner of Sunday’s later last-16 match between Croatia and Denmark. Peskov did not say whether Putin planned to attend the quarter-final.<doc-sep>
RUSSIA fans party hard, Spain set a World Cup record - and still lost while President Putin was at centre of latest VAR conspiracy theory. We wrap all the overnight action from Russia 2018 here. LOTS OF BEER, WHISKEY AND VODKA! Russia is in the midst of one of the all-time great World Cup parties, sending the vast country into pandemonium after plotting the tournament’s biggest shock. From Moscow to St Petersburg and many places in between across the vast nation of 11 different timezones, streets – like vodka – were overflowing with joyous fans while weddings were hijacked by soccer hysteria. A dramatic penalty shoot-out win over 2010 champions Spain after a 1-1 draw sent the “Golden Eagles” into the quarter-finals for the first time since 1970 (USSR). And evoking memories of the great Lev Yashin – who won gold for the USSR at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and remains the only keeper to win a Ballon d’Or – Russia keeper Igor Akinfeev’s stunning shoot-out saves were the vital, including an outstretched leg to deny Iago Aspas and secure victory. “I’m not the man of the match. The man of the match is our team - and our fans,’’ Akinfeev said. Unlike that golden era, there were no expectations on this “hopeless team”, as many locals dubbed them with the build-up to their opener against Saudi Arabia remarkably downbeat. Spain couldn’t unlock a five-man defensive wall, ending a turbulent World Cup when Julen Lopetegui was sacked two days before their opening game. Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov revealed that he had one-on-one meetings with his players leading into the game to convince them that an ultra-defensive strategy was the only answer against Spain. “I really had to persuade (my players) that this was the only way out,” Cherchesov said. “We don’t like this kind of structure but this is what we had to do with three defenders. Thank God my footballers understood what I was telling them. They trusted me. “Now it’s over and I’m thinking only about the next game.” Camera Icon Russia fans enjoy their time in the sun. Credit: AFP, AFP. Camera Icon Russia fans react after Russia won the penalty shootout. Credit: AFP Camera Icon It takes all kinds. Credit: AFP, AFP. SPAIN SET A WORLD RECORD — AND STILL LOSE Spain set a World Cup record for completed passes in a game. But it counted for nothing in the end as the 2010 champion failed to make good use of the ball before losing a penalty shootout to Russia. FIFA’s in-game analysis showed Spain’s players successfully passed to each other 1,029 times against Russia in Sunday’s round of 16 game. That’s more than eight passes per minute and more than 12 of the 32 World Cup teams managed in all of their three group-stage games combined. Sweden advanced to the round of 16 having completed just 660 passes, and used them to score five goals. SPANISH PRESS PUT THE BOOT IN The Spanish press turned on Julen Lopetegui, the former national coach who was sacked on the eve of the World Cup, after they were knocked out of the tournament. “The KO in the last 16 is another dark chapter in our history,” said sports daily Marca. “The match... was a horror. (Spain) played badly, and didn’t think it out... by the time the penalty shootout started this was a broken team lacking the desire to confront a challenge which owes a lot to luck but also to courage,” the paper said. Marca blamed Lopetegui, whose decision to accept the coach’s job at Real Madrid on the eve of the World Cup led to his sacking, for destabilising the team. The paper said it was “incredible naivety” to think that Lopetegui’s abrupt departure did not have an effect. As, another sports newspaper, said: “The World Cup will not miss us”, adding: “Spain did not play well in a single match.” The Barcelona-based Sport newspaper criticised Real Madrid, the Catalan club’s bitter rivals, for “blowing apart the Roja’s chances” by approaching Lopetegui when they did. “It was the chaos sparked by Lopetegui’s recruitment that caused this debacle,” the paper said in an editorial. Camera Icon It was tough to watch for Spain boss Fernando Hierro. Credit: AAP PUTIN THE BOOT IN TO CONSPIRACY THEORISTS SOCIAL media was quick to Putin the boot after a controversial VAR verdict robbed Spain against Russia.