RIO DE JANEIRO: France made World Cup history yesterday by defeating Honduras 3-0 with the help of the first goal awarded in international football using video spies.
Karim Benzema’s strike early in the second half cannoned back off the inside of an upright across the goal at Porto Alegre’s Beira-Rio Stadium.
Hapless Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares’ tried to scoop it clear but the German-manufactured GoalControl system signalled the ball had crossed the line prompting Brazilian referee Sandro Riccio to whistle for a score.
There was a brief delay as Ricci consulted his fourth official while Honduras manager Luis Fernando Suarez angrily protested. But Valladares’s goal stood.
Goal-line technology is being used for the first time at a World Cup finals in an attempt to eradicate the type of unwanted controversies that saw England’s Frank Lampard denied a valid goal against Germany at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
There are seven high-speed cameras, each capable of taking 500 pictures a second, trained on each goal in the World Cup games.
The 48th-minute milestone was one of the talking points of a comfortable Group E victory for France, whose other goals came from Real Madrid star Benzema.
Honduras paid the price early on for a rugged approach which saw Wilson Palacios sent off and concede a penalty for flattening Paul Pogba near half-time.
Benzema added a spectacular second goal on 72 minutes as France, bidding to make up for their disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign, made a winning start.
They now face European rivals Switzerland in Salvador on Friday, a game which could decide who tops the group.
Earlier, the game between France and Honduras got off to a bizarre start as the national anthems for both sides were not played before kick-off.
Both teams lined up for the anthems as usual but were then instructed by the referee to go through the protocol of shaking hands when no music for the anthems began. The players then had to wait for several minutes till the game could start at the scheduled kick-off time.
A FIFA spokesman was unable to immediately give an explanation as to why the anthems hadn’t been played. AGENCIES
