While genuine match action was a little thin on the ground during Uruguay’s Group A tie against Egypt, fans were at least treated to a heady nostalgia rush courtesy of one Jonathan Pearce.
Given his previous struggles with newly-implemented replay technology, fans were on tenterhooks to see how the BBC commentator would pit his wits against VAR.
So excited for Jonathan Pearce vs VAR
— Adam Hurrey (@FootballCliches) June 15, 2018
After an opening 20 minutes of small talk being chuntered over nothing much, Pearce came roaring to life when Luis Suarez swept his side ahead from close range.
“ONE-NIL URUGUAY!”, came the raucous bellow from the man in the gantry.
However, Suarez didn’t seem to celebrate which led Pearce to conclude that the opening goal had been disallowed for reasons as-yet-unclear.
Replays subsequently showed that the goal had indeed been overruled, and for a pifflingly minor technicality – the shot didn’t actually come anywhere close to going in…
Classic Pearce. Permanently treading that perilous line between earnest studiousness and eardrum-rupturing pomposity.
Of course, the ricket immediately conjured notions of Pearce’s infamous meltdown at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil – specifically during the group stage encounter between France and Honduras.
Try as he might, our hero just couldn’t get his head around the relatively simple concept of goal line technology (you might have to turn the sound up for this one)…
“Which replay are supposed to believe? This was supposed to be a flawless system.”
What a (loud, pontificating) berk Pearce can be at times.