Ever had a low-quality stream, your team scores and you aren’t able to identify who did? We have all been there as football fans.
Although, when it comes to officiating, cases of mistaken identity are few and far between in football.
One of the rare instances of mistaken identity involved the infamous sending off of Kieran Gibbs for a handball committed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain back in the 2013-14 Premier League season.
The bogus decision from the referee Andre Marriner came in Arsenal’s match against Chelsea as the Blues downed the Gunners to a 6-0 defeat which proved to be costly for Arsenal in the title race.
Arsenal fans are recovering the shades of those memories as new signing Pablo Mari and Ceballos look eerily similar.
Although the loan signing from Flamengo is yet to play a game for the Gunners, fans around the globe got to catch a glimpse of him at one of Arsenal’s open training sessions.
Consequently, the spectators were left deceived by the looks of the new signing Pablo Mari and Dani Ceballos with only the kit numbers being helpful to differentiate between the two.
Some suspect that a similar mishap as in 2014 might repeat itself, this time involving the two Arsenal loanees but the possibilities are rather slim with the advent of VAR in the Premier League, which is specifically involved if there is a case of mistaken identity.
However, considering many erroneous decisions from VAR throughout the season, nothing can be excluded.
Also, it’s going to be one hell of a task for the Arsenal followers to recognise the two of them through their TV screens and from the back of the stands if Mikel Arteta decides to put both of them on the pitch together.
The chance to prove himself might come sooner for Pablo Mari, as Mikel Arteta eases the centre-back into the team during the winter break and deems him ready to get going against Newcastle United.
