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Italy forward Federico Bernardeschi has blasted the FIFA World Cup referee and VAR for missing two penalties for Canada against Belgium on November 23. The Toronto FC man took to Instagram to question the decisions that cost the north American side the game as they lost 1-0.
Canada were awarded a penalty in the eighth minute, but Alphonso Davies saw his effort saved by Thibaut Courtois. Belgium went on to win the game by a single goal, scored by Michy Batshuayi in the first half.
Bernardeschi was left furious with FIFA World Cup officials as they missed two penalty calls later in the game for Canada. He took to Instagram and wrote:
"What is this? It's useless to have cutting-edge technologies if you don't call penalties of this kind… It's not possible in a world championship to make mistakes of this magnitude, you can escape what is seen live by the referee, however you cannot ignore technology. In a competition where details make the difference, you can't make mistakes like this. This is an injustice."
The Italian currently plays in Major League Soccer with Canadian side Toronto FC. The 28-year-old scored eight times in 13 matches for the side he joined earlier this year.
VAR missed two penalties for Canada against Belgium in FIFA World Cup?
Questions were asked of FIFA World Cup officials after two penalty decisions were missed in the game. They did award a penalty for the first incident that saw Tajon Buchanan's shot get blocked by Yannick Carrasco's hand in the box.
However, Bayern Munich fullback Alphonso Davies saw his penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois to keep the scores level. The Canadian side kept up the pressure and asked for another penalty five minutes later.
Buchanan hit the floor after getting caught by Jan Vertonghen, but the linesman raised the flag for offside. Replays showed that the ball was played back by Belgium's Eden Hazard, and it should have been a penalty for Canada.
The North American side were denied another penalty shout just before halftime. Axel Witsel brought down Richie Laryea in the box, but VAR decided to stay with the on-field call as both players were running alongside each other.
