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Look again. by NDMike2001

First of all, consider the moment. It's the biggest moment of most of these players careers. Oliver does a cute little foot shuffle as he points to the spot - clearly not a stranger to the big stage.

Then players surround him. At the 8 second mark you can see Oliver begin to retreat. Which is what you would expect of an official that understands the heat of the moment. He's leaning to his right about to duck away. Then he stands straight up and puts his shoulder into Buffon's chest. Then he reaches into his back pocket.

Did Buffon overreact? Of course. Most players would. All I'm saying is that Oliver was looking to influence the moment. He could have easily deescalated the situation by flashing yellow there. He didn't. There's only one explanation for that sequence.