The World Cup matches in Qatar marked a trend and a desire of FIFA: to play more minutes of net time per game.
Surprisingly, there were games with 10, 12 and even 14 minutes of added time;
but this Monday night for the Bolivian first division broke all records:
42 minutes of additional time
, almost a third time.
The game in question - from the sixth date - corresponded to the duel between
Atlético Palmaflor and Blooming
, which ended with a 3-2 victory for the locals.
In a game that really had it all: a flooded field, torrential rain, controversial plays, two expulsions and an unusual additional time.
In principle, the crossing was to take place on Sunday, but it was postponed until Monday night due to a
blockade on the road
between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba that prevented the arrival of the VAR teams and the television broadcast.
The day transfer did not help because the weather issue became a fundamental protagonist of the clash: the intense rain made the Bicentenario stadium in Villa Tunari, in the Cochabamba Tropics, almost impassable.
Mud everywhere and puddles that with the passing of the minutes became lagoons.
So and everything
was played the same.
Little or nothing was seen of the game.
With the ball in the air as best it could and permanent friction between the protagonists, the locals were able to make a difference in the first half with a penalty goal converted by the Argentine Jonathan Cañete.
Already in the second half and with the most pronounced puddles, the game almost resembled a parody of football.
Even so, at 37 minutes from the plugin, another penalty for the locals allowed Gilbert Álvarez to close the gap: 2-0.
But, the best was yet to come.
Five minutes from finishing the 90, Blooming discounted through Rodrígues Maeso in a play that had to be intervened by the VAR, due to an alleged offside, and in which it took 13 minutes to define the issue.
There and after such a delay, referee Julio Gutiérrez decided to add 10 more minutes to the match.
But, when the moment of the final whistle arrived, another play in which the VAR intervened caused the referee to continue adding minutes.
In the 110th minute, a foul by Blooming's César Menacho against the local goalkeeper was penalized with a yellow card.
But once again the VAR intervened and in this case, the visiting team was left with 10: he was sent off, and Gutiérrez continued adding.
The Colombian José Luis Sinisterra made it 2-2 when 24 minutes of additional time had already been played.
And 4 minutes later, the team that had achieved the heroic tie was left with 9 players due to the expulsion of Miguel Becerra.
With the torrential rain and the fever shared by both teams, the game continued.
Again Cañete scored on the scoreboard with a goal at 38 minutes of added time.
Finally, Gutiérrez took pity and with 42 minutes of additional time put an end to the odyssey.
Blooming's protest
After such an irregular match, Blooming described the arbitration as "embarrassing" for exposing the players to "possible injuries", giving an "excessive addition" and damaging the result "completely" and will initiate legal action.
"We will initiate the respective legal representation so that this class of referees does not lead in Bolivian football again," the club published in a statement.
With information from EFE
