Cristiano Ronaldo will play at least one more World Cup game for Portugal after they beat Croatia 2-1 in the last 32, with Technique playing a decisive role in the final moments of the game.Portugal secured victory with Ronaldo’s penalty and Goncalo Ramos’ header in stoppage time. But the biggest talking point came in the final minutes, when Croatia’s equalizing goal was disallowed after a VAR review.Croatia believed they had sent the game into extra time when Josko Gvardiol scored from close range in the 13th minute of stoppage time.However, the goal was disallowed after VAR reviewed whether the ball made contact with Igor Matanovic before reaching another Croatian player who was in an offside position.The decision comes down to the technology built into the game ball.Every adidas Trionda ball used at the World Cup contains a microchip that uses motion sensors to record every touch. The system showed that before the ball reached his teammates, Matanovic made slight contact, causing the receiving player to be offside.To many spectators in the stadium, it appeared that Matanovic had not touched the ball. The decision left Croatian players frustrated, while many fans questioned how much impact technology had on the game.Television viewers see the footage being censored. The replay looked clear, but the sensor data showed a small spike indicating contact with the ball.Norwegian referee Espen Eskars ruled the goal disallowed after watching multiple replays. As it turned out, it was pretty much the final move of the game.The decision sparked angry scenes at stadiums, with Croatian fans throwing plastic bottles onto the pitch at the end of the World Cup.Snicko is a technology used to detect ball contact and first appeared in football during the 2022 World Cup. However, it is rarely used to decide such important moments in a match.A microchip inside the ball provides instant data on the ball’s movement, speed, trajectory and every time the player touches the ball.This technology is more familiar to cricket fans. In cricket matches, Snicko is often used to determine whether a batsman has pushed the ball towards the wicketkeeper or a slip fielder when it is difficult for the umpire to judge by sight and sound alone.By slowing down the footage and matching it with audio and sensor data, officials can make clearer decisions.Snicko was invented by British computer scientist Allan Plaskett in the mid-1990s and was first introduced in Channel 4’s cricket broadcasts in 1999.
