The Croatian press today blames Italian referee Daniele Orsato and FIFA for Croatia’s 3-0 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final in Qatar, while also acknowledging that the Albiceleste played better.
The scoring was opened in the first half by Lionel Messi from the penalty spot, before Julian Alvarez scored twice to book Argentina’s place in the final.
The penalty came when Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic fouled Alvarez in the box as he came out to collect the ball.
Real Madrid and Croatia star Luka Modric was clearly very bitter about the refereeing, saying after the game: “Orsato is one of the worst, a disaster! The penalty destroyed us.”
Various elements of the Croatian press echoed Modric‘s sentiments after the game, with Vecernji writing: “The Croatian national team lost 3-0 to Argentina, but who knows what would have happened if Italian referee Orsato hadn’t made a serious mistake in deciding the penalty for the Gauchos.”
Another outlet, Jutarnji, admits that “Argentina were better”, but insists: “Look how FIFA favours Messi, and do you know who was the VAR referee? We will ask ourselves a thousand times if this is how it had to end, if the concentration had to be the worst just in the semi-final, if Orsato has been our executioner coincidentally like his compatriot Massimiliano Irrati in Moscow (at the 2018 World Cup),” the newspaper says.
Credit: marca.com
