Cristiano Ronaldo will play at least one more FIFA World Cup match for Portugal after his side beat Croatia 2-1 in the round of 16, with technology playing a decisive role in the closing moments of the match.Portugal secured victory with Ronaldo’s penalty and Goncalo Ramos’ header in stoppage time. But the biggest talking point came in the dying minutes when Croatia lost a late equalizer following a VAR review.Croatia believed they had forced extra time when Joško Guardiol scored from close range in the 13th minute of stoppage time.However, the goal was disallowed after VAR checked whether the ball had made contact with Igor Matanović before reaching another Croatian player standing in the backfield.The decision depended on the technology built into the ball.Every Adidas Trionda ball used at the World Cup contains a microchip that records every touch using a motion sensor. The system showed that there was slight contact with Matanović before the ball reached his teammate, which brought the player who received the ball into the backfield.It seemed to many in the stadium that Matanović did not touch the ball. The decision left Croatian players frustrated, while many fans questioned how much technology should affect the game.Television viewers are shown a clip that is being reviewed. The replay looked fuzzy, but the sensor data showed a small spike indicating contact with the ball.Norwegian referee Espen Eskas watched multiple replays before awarding the goal. It turned out to be almost the last action of the game.The decision led to angry scenes in the stadium, with Croatia fans throwing plastic bottles onto the pitch as their World Cup campaign drew to a close.Snicko, the technology used to detect contact with the ball, made its first appearance in soccer during the 2022 World Cup. But it was rarely used to decide such an important moment in the match.A microchip inside the ball provides real-time data on the ball’s movement, speed, trajectory and each player’s touch.The technology is more familiar to cricket fans. Snicko is regularly used during cricket matches to determine whether the batsman has bowled the ball to the wicketkeeper or the slip fielders 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, officers can make a clearer decision.Snicko was invented by English computer scientist Allan Plaskett in the mid-1990s, and was first introduced in cricket broadcasts by Channel 4 in 1999.
