Tim Ream achieved dual milestones in the same match Friday night: he became the oldest American to ever compete in a World Cup, and more improbably, the first player at the tournament to benefit from a rule change designed to correct referee identification errors on the field.
The USMNT defender was incorrectly booked in the 53rd minute of a 4-1 victory over Paraguay when he was penalized for a challenge involving Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almirón, who had gone to ground. Ream's protest went nowhere initially, and the yellow card stood.
Dutch referee Danny Makkelie was then summoned to the monitor by video assistant referee Carlos del Cerro Grande to review the sequence. What followed was the first real-world application of the International Football Association Board's "mistaken identity" law revision, approved earlier this year. The rule grants referees the power to use video review to overturn red and yellow cards when they have been issued to the wrong player.
Makkelie overturned Ream's caution and instead booked Almirón for simulation, correctly interpreting the contact as a dive rather than a foul on the American.
The reversal carried significant weight beyond the historical footnote. Had Ream collected a second yellow before the group stage concluded, he would have faced a one-match suspension with accumulated cards resetting only after the group stage ends, then again following the quarter-finals. The 38-year-old escaped that jeopardy, though not all his teammates proved as fortunate. Midfielder Tyler Adams earned a yellow in the 59th minute and will carry it into the USMNT's June 19 match against Australia.
Author James Rodriguez: "This rule might sound obscure, but it probably should have existed years ago,VAR finally fixed something that makes actual sense."
Comments