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Football

28th Jun 2018

Davinson Sanchez pulls off the tackle of the World Cup to deny Sadio Mane

The defender was praised for the quality of the challenge

Wayne Farry

Davinson Sanchez with the best piece of defending  you’re likely to see at the World Cup

Spurs centre-back Davinson Sanchez pulled off the tackle of the World Cup so far in Colombia’s final group game against Senegal, preventing what would have been a near certain goal from Liverpool’s Sadio Mane in the process.

The incident took place in the 16th minute of the game and originally saw the referee award a penalty immediately to the African side.

However, after protests from the Senegal team and a word in his ear from the VAR officials, the referee walked off the pitch, consulted VAR and swiftly reversed his decision to the correct one.

To be fair to the ref, it originally looked like a penalty to almost everyone watching, only for the slow-motion replay to showcase exactly how good a tackle it was.

It was made all the more impressive by the fact that the 22-year-old was on the wrong side of Mane as he ran through on goal, and was forced to use his right heel to nudge the ball away from the forward.

davinson sanchez

The tackle understandably impressed plenty of the watching public, including former Spurs striker and BBC host Gary Lineker.

https://twitter.com/TheMainMane2206/status/1012342112359153670