Miami, July 12: Norway head coach Stale Solbakken believes the ball clearly struck an overhead cable in the build-up to England’s controversial equaliser during their FIFA World Cup quarter-final, insisting “everyone saw what happened” despite officials allowing play to continue.
Solbakken said referee Wilton Sampaio informed him that he neither saw the incident nor received any communication confirming the ball had made contact with the cable.
“He said he didn’t see it himself and didn’t get any message that it actually happened. But the ball fell straight down in front of the bench, so it did. Everyone saw what happened. I think it’s pretty clear that it did,” Solbakken said.Although FIFA later stated there was “no evidence” that the ball touched the overhead wire and altered its trajectory, the Norwegian coach maintained the incident was obvious and admitted his side was unfortunate.“It was unlucky for us. The ball fell straight down, which caused confusion among our players. We can’t do anything about that now, and I don’t think the game will be replayed,” he added. (Agencies)
