14 minutes of stoppage time in the first half, ten minutes in the second half: The game between England and Iran should go down in the history books right away – and not just because of the eight goals that the game had to offer.
In the 11th minute, the Iranian goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand collided with his teammate Majid Hosseini while trying to defend against a sharp cross from England captain Harry Kane. The goalkeeper lay on the grass for minutes and had to be treated for a nosebleed. He tried to continue playing, but then had to be substituted in the 20th minute. Substitute goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini then conceded three more goals before half-time.
“We will calculate injury time very carefully and try to make up for the time lost due to incidents,” said FIFA chief referee Pierluigi Collina ahead of the World Cup. “We don’t want there to be only 42 or 43 minutes of active play in a half, that’s not acceptable. The time lost through goal celebrations, substitutions, injuries or sending-offs should definitely be made up for. “Seven, Eight, nine minutes of added time” are to be expected in a normal World Cup game in Qatar.
In the game between England and Iran, the Brazilian referee Raphael Clauss followed these Fifa instructions. In his eyes, the injury break plus three goals added up to 14 minutes of added time. Five goals plus video evidence of a second-half penalty resulted in ten more minutes of extra playing time.
That didn’t change the clear result. But the players on the pitch, like the fans in front of the TV and in the stadium, will have to get used to this change.
