Miguel Almiron became the first player to be sent off for covering his mouth during an altercation with an opponent, but Paraguay clung on for a 1-0 World Cup win over Turkey.
The former Newcastle player was dismissed following a VAR review in first-half stoppage time. Almiron had covered his mouth while speaking to Turkey’s Baris Yilmaz.
Any player covering their mouth in a confrontational situation with an opponent may now be sanctioned with a red card.
The rule change came is in light of the controversy surrounding Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr in a Champions League game in February. Prestianni covered his mouth during a confrontation with Vinicius, who accused him of racist abuse. This was unable to be proven but Prestianni received a six-game ban from Uefa for homophobic conduct.
“If the conversation is friendly, they can continue to do it without any problem,” refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina explained. “When the conversation is confrontational, covering the mouth means that you are doing something very wrong, potentially, and the sanction is the red card.”
Matias Galarza gave Paraguay a second-minute lead as he collected a pass from Julio Enciso and fired a low effort into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
With both sides having lost their opening game, there was plenty at stake at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium and the tension soon led to a fiery encounter.
Mert Muldur’s header from a free-kick hit the crossbar and post before bouncing away as Turkey came close to a 33rd-minute equaliser.
Given their numerical advantage it was no surprise that Turkey dominated the second half, with Orlando Gill saving from Abdulkerim Bardakci.
Enciso fired a good chance wide on the counter attack while Can Uzun missed from six yards out at the other end.
Needing a goal to maintain any chance of progressing, Turkey became increasingly desperate as Gill denied Uzun and Deniz Gul put the rebound off target. Merih Demiral headed a stoppage-time effort wide as defeat saw Turkey eliminated.
PA
