VAR rescues Spain to set up Moscow meeting with Russia
The Game
The Times
3.2 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 25 June 2018
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Spain lose and then regain top spot in Group B as VAR allows a disallowed Iago Aspas equaliser while simultaneously awarding Iran a penalty to push Portugal down into second place.
Natalie Sawyer reviews a crazy couple of minutes in Kaliningrad and Saransk. She’s joined by Henry Winter, who wants VAR to clamp down on Portuguese play-acting, Alex Kay-Jelski who would like Argentina to stay in Russia and Alyson Rudd who admires Uruguay’s intelligent thuggery.
Plus we bring you an update from the England camp ahead of the clash with Belgium and the conclusion to Mo Salah’s miserable month.
For more from The Times why not take advantage of our digital sale and subscribe to enjoy award winning journalism online and on your smartphone or tablet. For a limited time only it's just £1 a month for your first 3 months. Search The Times Sale for more information.
You can follow @NatalieSawyer on Twitter and track our award-winning writers in Russia, including @henrywinter, @DickinsonTimes,
@OliverKayTimes, @_pauljoyce, @allyrudd_times, @martynziegler and @JNorthcroft.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Attention at all passengers. You can now book your train tickets on Uber and get 10% back in Uber credits to spend on your next train journey. |
| 0:11.0 | So no excuses not to visit your in-laws this Christmas. |
| 0:16.5 | Trains now on Uber. T's and C's apply check the Uber app. Hello and welcome to the game World Cup Daily from The Times. I'm Natalie Sawyer and |
| 0:36.2 | thank you for joining us. We're here every match day of the World Cup podcasting |
| 0:40.0 | after 10 o'clock UK time every night and this week it is all about the final |
| 0:44.7 | match days of the group stages in the studio with me the sports editor at the |
| 0:49.5 | times Alex K Jelski hello good evening later evening. Later on, we'll be speaking to Allison Rudd. |
| 0:55.0 | After Uruguay dismantled host nation, Russia, Louis Suarez and co-top the group, while Russia are runners-up from Group A. We're lucky enough to be joined by Henry Winter. |
| 1:04.9 | Hi Henry. |
| 1:05.9 | Hi Natalie how you doing? All good all good. We're getting an update from the England |
| 1:10.4 | camp with you shortly after that record-breaking victory over Panama, but first, to a remarkable climax to Group B on Monday night. |
| 1:19.0 | Spain twice came from behind to draw tour with Morocco in Kalining Brad |
| 1:23.1 | thanks to Aargo Asbass's Lake Equalizer |
| 1:25.5 | being awarded after a VAR review found Asbass |
| 1:28.2 | to be on side. |
| 1:29.5 | But Spanish blushes were spared. |
| 1:31.3 | Iran knew they had to beat Portugal to have any chance of |
| 1:33.7 | qualifying for the knockout stages. After falling behind to a Ricardo |
| 1:37.7 | Corresema strike, a stoppage time VAAR penalty from Kar and Saarifard gave the Iranians hope. |
| 1:44.4 | Medi-Teremy had a golden chance to win it for Iran just moments later, but it finished one |
| 1:48.8 | all. |
| 1:49.8 | Iran out Portugal through to the last 16. Two goals in two games both |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.