 Nothing beats the intense focus and heart-pumping anxiousness of a VAR review. For those of you that don't know what VAR is, well, it's video assistant referee and in football, aka soccer, VAR has now entered the game to assist match officials, determining the correctness or incorrectness of a certain decision or situation. Not everyone wins with VAR. Never in fact. It's become a source of joy and elation for one side while another deals with heartbreak and suffering. But as much as this video is about football, it really isn't. It's about how in a time before VAR, there was no recourse to correct any mistake. What was decided was it, done, no turning back. This video is mainly about a moment in time on the greatest stage of the mall when one nation decided to take matters into its own hands. By implementing the concepts of VAR far ahead of their time. Not through any technology per se, but through pride towards one's nation. Determination through a just cause and through the application of power during the most critical of moments. Kuwait was an underdog before a ball was even kicked. So despite having won the Asia Cup just two years prior, most people outside of Asia had never even heard of the Blues, those who had underestimated them completely. For example, in Kuwait's final qualifying match against New Zealand, Kuwaiti players were met with banners telling them to go back to their camels. Kuwait did go back to their camels, along with a ticket to the World Cup, having topped their group. But the joy and jubilation that came with qualifying for the tournament was soon coupled with dread. Kuwait was about to play on the world stage, and playing on the world stage when playing against the world's best. To that end, Kuwait found itself in a group with Czechoslovakia, England and France. Three teams loaded with footballing royalty. Kuwait was going to have to bring their A-game to compete. And that they did, earning a spirited 1-1 draw with Czechoslovakia and a narrow 1-0 defeat to England. But in between those matches was a game against France, which would go down in the history books. Let me remind you again, it's still not about football, it's about a moment during one match, France vs Kuwait. The expectation of one nation was to win the whole shebang, France, a country that had been to every preceding world cup, while Kuwait, the extreme underdog, a nation barely independent for 20 years, punching way above its weight. And when faced with insurmountable odds, how Kuwait portrays a resilience in overcoming those odds. This is truly a David and Goliath moment. France were quick to put their stamp on the game, with Gengini, Platini and Cease making it 1-2-3-0 for them. In the second half, Kuwait managed to turn it into 3-1, keeping them in the game, when something happened. Something that happens dozens of times in every football match, but also something that would forever etch Kuwait's name into the history of the World Cup. A whistle was blown, but no ordinary whistle. This was a ghost whistle, coming from the crowd and not from the referee. And it caused one set of players to stop playing, and another to put the ball in the back of the net. So to re-emphasize, a random whistle is heard. The Kuwaiti players stop, a goal is scored. Typically, arguments would ensue between the players and the referee. But a goal is a goal, fair or not. The goal stands. Things should move imminently along. At its worst, the situation is dealt with by the refereeing officials who administer the match. But this is injustice, and is unacceptable to the Kuwaiti team. Players usually stay on the pitch, but this impasse will not pass. This offense incents the Kuwaiti players. The whole world comes to a standstill. And who takes things personally? Sheikh Fahd Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Sheikh Fahd Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was a man who lived many lives, but could be best described as the embodiment of bravery and following through on one's beliefs. Throughout his life, he fought with the Kuwaiti military against Zionist occupation forces, committed resistance movements in Lebanon, and was crucial in the early development of sports in his roles with both the Kuwaiti Olympics Committee, as well as various roles in Kuwaiti, Arab and Pan-Asian sports. He gave his life defending his country during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. He was just 44 years old. In its limelight moment, the footballing world experiences an unprecedented standoff. No Kuwaiti team member is interested in restarting the game. Such a transgression might have been acceptable to another nation, but not on Kuwait's watch. The entire Kuwaiti delegation is willing to lay it all on the line and risk significant damage to their reputation. For them, there was no other option. To withdraw from the match and exit the entire World Cup, just to face off with such wrongdoing. The threat is laid bare by their leader, Sheikh Fahd Al-Ahmad. Exit, cancel the unfair disadvantage, or we walk. And so chaos erupted, and for the next few minutes of the match, anyone not on the pitch had no idea what was going on. Imagine one minute you were watching football, and the next, a country was an open rebellion against sporting injustice. Eventually, the Soviet referee, Miroslav Stupor, came to his decision. No goal. And so, while France would actually go on to score again and finish the match with the 4-1 winners, Kuwait had stood up to not only one of the world's biggest footballing nations, but the entire footballing governing body and a referee from the world's biggest nuclear power. And it had won. People view this event as an uncivilized and incorrect episode in what is supposedly a gentleman's game. A small and insignificant Arab nation that did things differently than how things were done in a supposedly more gallant West. Yes, Kuwait did indeed do things differently. They wouldn't accept the injustice and stood up for themselves, protected their nation from any wrongdoing exercised upon it, defined by confronting the powers that be in correcting what was an unfair judgment. How can that be wrong? Wouldn't you take such a leap for your country?