Croatia protested against the Orsato arbitration

The Croatian press is now blaming the Italian referee Daniel Orsato But the FIFA of the defeat of Croatia in the view of Argentina 3-0 in the semifinal of Qatar World Cupalthough he also acknowledged that the Albiceleste played better.

“Luka Modric is angry at the arbitration work: Orsato is one of the worst, a disaster! The penalty ruined us!”, the newspaper ‘Vecernji list’ reflects the words of the captain of the Croatian team. “The Croatian team lost to Argentina 3-0, but who knows what could have happened if the Italian referee Daniele Orsato had not made a serious mistake when deciding on the penalty (…) for those gauchos,” he wrote.

Another portal, ‘Jutarnji’, admitted that “Argentina was better”, but insisted: “Look how FIFA favors Messi, and do you know who the VAR referee is?” “We will ask ourselves a thousand times if it had to end like this, if the concentration should have been the worst in the semifinal, if Orsato became our executioner by chance like his compatriot Massimiliano Irrati in Moscow (in 2018 World Cup )”, indicates the newspaper.

“Again Irrati is from VAR and he said nothing about the penalty for Argentina, VAR will not say anything in our favor,” he added. He assures that FIFA favors Messi and that this is shown by “the fact that he was named man of the match, although Álvarez scored two goals.”

“No one was on our side. Neither the circumstances, nor, unfortunately, nor the game, was the worst in this tournament, because, whatever it was, we conceded the goals we shouldn’t have and we have to admit this”, added ‘Jutarnji’.

The portal also included a message of support for Croatian tennis player Novak Djokovic, “one of the best of all time”, who congratulated Dejan Lovren and Luka Modric, and “the whole team for another brilliant championship” .

The portal points out that despite the defeat, thousands of fans who followed the game on big screens in Zagreb’s squares “wiped their tears and organized a party.” “What if they win?” asked one headline, noting that it was celebrated with firecrackers, fireworks and sparklers.

“Those people are our heroes. What they did is a great achievement for all Croatians, and for all Croatian players in the world. We should be grateful for everything they have done,” said Croatian soccer expert Andrej Panadic, on ‘Vecernji list’.

The Index portal points out that the loss against Argentina was Croatia’s worst in 29 World Cup matches, since 1998, as it was the first time they lost with a difference of three goals. Croatia will fight for third place if they lose the match between France and Morocco, which will be played tonight.