[CLANG.]
I do not know how he did it. I have watched it back and I still do not know how. The boy had no right to reach that ball, and he reached it.
The ball spilled loose in the box. A white shirt went down over Dirar's outstretched leg. 38,000 people screamed for it as one voice. ["PENALTYYYY!"] Arms up across the whole English end.
Faghani waved it away. Play on.
Then his hand went to his ear. He stopped moving. The world stopped with him. VAR.
78,000 people made that sound again. The one with no shape to it. The low, rolling growl of a crowd told to hold in a thing it cannot hold. [Rrrrrummmmbbbllle...] My hands went to the top of my head and I dragged them down. The bench watches the manager. I had to stay standing.
Benatia was frozen on the touchline with both fists in the air mid-roar. Dirar lay flat on the grass not daring to move. A man one screen away from giving away a penalty and a World Cup semi-final.
