SCOTLAND'S World Cup hopes were ended in the harshest of manners last night. With 74 minutes on the clock, Scotland were three up against Argentina and cruising into the last sixteen for the first time in history when disaster struck.
In the space of about five minutes, Argentina had pulled it back to 3-2 to set up a nervy finale to Scotland's final group stage game. Then, with the game entering stoppage time, the chaos began.
Argentina played a ball into the box, and Sophie Howard lunged at the ball to deny Cometti. Play went on before referee Hyang-ok Ri decided to consult VAR with the Argentine players howling for a penalty. After much deliberation, Ri pointed to the spot and Argentina had the opportunity to level the scores.
READ MORE: Agony for Scotland as lead slips out of grasps
Bonsegundo stepped up and rifled a low shot to Lee Alexander's right, only for the Scotland goalie to deny her with an excellent stop. The ball was spilled to Bonsegundo once again, but Alexander was at hand to deny her and seal a crucial win for Scotland.
Or so we thought. The referee decided to have a look at the penalty again via VAR, and adjudged Alexander to be marginally off of her line. The spot-kick was retaken, Argentina scored, and Scotland were out.
Unsurprisingly, there were more than a few Scots who weren't too pleased with the controversial calls from Hyang-ok Ri. Here's a few of the responses to give you an idea of how well the decision went down.
READ MORE: As it happened: Scotland 3-3 Argentina | Dramatic retaken penalty sends Scotland crashing out
Dear #SWNT - you’ve taken Scotland to our first World Cup in 21 years, scored our first ever goals in a women’s World Cup, and inspired our nation. I know how heartbroken you will feel right now, but hold your heads high - you’ve done us proud ❤️ #SCO
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) June 19, 2019
Scotland 3-0 up
— Samantha Quek (@SamanthaQuek) June 19, 2019
Argentina pull it back to 3-2
90th minute VAR penalty against Scotland
SAVED
VAR check, Keeper came off her line 6 inches
Second penalty
GOAL
3-3
Either team wins, they go through, a draw & they both go out!
😮#SCOARG #WWC19
I have never seen a referee completely lose the plot as this one has in the last 5 mins
— Neil Yelland (@totalclint69) June 19, 2019
The standard of refereeing for scotland in this tournament has been shockingly poor#SWNT #SCOARG
Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the world of being Scottish. #SCOARG
— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) June 19, 2019
Never seen anything like it. Taking VAR too far now. GK was hardly off the line! #SCOARG
— Jamie Murphy (@Jamiemurphy89) June 19, 2019
Here's the penalty that Lee Alexander saved.
— Michael Hutchison (@SNPMichael) June 19, 2019
Shocking decision against @ScotlandNT. I thought VAR was meant to improve the quality of the refereeing decisions.#SNWT #SCOARG #OurGirlsOurGame pic.twitter.com/kbe5RsfVrB
I’m genuinely devastated, and I can’t imagine how those brilliant women are feeling. I’m gutted, but for it to end like this is just beyond me. What was that ref thinking?! They should still be playing! #SCOARG #OurGirlsOurGame
— Brenna (@brennajessie_) June 19, 2019
This referee is outrageous. Absolutely raging. What is she doing? I don’t understand how the game can be finished look at your watch! #SCOARG
— Hannah Bardell 🏴🏳️🌈 (@HannahB4LiviMP) June 19, 2019
The new penalty rule regarding the keepers having a foot on the line is awful, almost no chance of saving a penalty anymore. And why hasn't the ref played the 4 minutes it took to take the 2 penalties? Awful, really awful. #SCOARG
— Aaron Brown (@AaronVimto) June 19, 2019
Scotland being 3-0 up with only 16 minutes left and on course to qualify for the second round to Scotland drawing 3-3 and being dumped out of the World Cup in the group stage has to be the most Scottish football thing ever. #SCOARG
— We won it 6 times (@8playersshort) June 19, 2019
VAR what are you doing to this World Cup?? Heart breaking for Scotland. I’m not a GK but it seems that the rules are ruining it for them!! #FIFAWWC19 #VAR #SCOARG
— Christie Pearce Rampone (@christierampone) June 19, 2019
Thank you to everyone who has supported, followed, travelled, watched, messaged, called, encouraged & loved on us over the past few weeks and months.
— Rachel Corsie (@RachelCorsie14) June 20, 2019
We are extremely grateful. 💙🏴
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel