Croatia midfielder Luka Modric has blamed referee Daniele Orsato for his team’s 3-0 loss to Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday night.
During Croatia’s match against Argentina, Modric claimed Orsato failed to award Croatia a corner and a penalty.
Argentina defeated Croatia at the Lusail Stadium thanks to goals from Messi and Julian Alvarez.
“It wasn’t to be, but hey, we have to recover and try to win the match for third place. We are sad, we wanted to be in another final. We have to congratulate Argentina,” Modric said at his post-match press conference.
The Real Madrid star added, “We were fine, controlling the game and this corner that the referee didn’t give us and the penalty, which for me wasn’t one, changed everything. The Argentine shoots and collides with our goalkeeper, he goes for him, I can’t believe he gave that penalty.
“This changes the game a bit. But we can’t change it, we have to recover and try to win the next game.”