Davinson Sanchez’s tackle was so good that none of us believed it could have been clean

When Senegal’s Sadio Mane went down in the box, I thought there was no way it wasn’t a penalty.

Colombia’s Davinson Sanchez was beaten. He had no angle on the ball. He went to ground, and then Mane went to ground. The ref called a penalty, because it had to be a penalty. Then he went to VAR video replay to check.

It took me a few times to see it. But they got the angle, and there it was: Sanchez’s tackle was clean. He got the ball with his heel, and then Mane came into him. Unbelievable.

I have to admire referee Milorad Mazic for reversing his decision after looking at the review. Tackles like that are notoriously hard to call, and even if you do get a touch on the ball, a ref can rule that you still got the man and can punish you for it. Overturning their own call can make some refs feel like they messed up on the field, and if it’s close, might just err on the side of confirming what they saw.

Mazic didn’t hesitate. He saw that it was clean, and reversed it. He didn’t have a good angle to see the tackle, plus, I mean, who could believe that it was clean? That tackle is impossible. No one makes that tackle.