He reached boiling point.
Ivan Rakitic let World Cup final referee Nestor Pinata know exactly what he thought of his performance after one questionable decision too many.
The Croatian midfielder had it up to his neck with the Argentinean ref, during his side’s 4-2 loss to France, and could not keep a lid on his emotions.
Earlier in the game, Pinata had awarded a soft free to Antoine Griezmann that led to the French opener and gave the Atletico Madrid star a chance to make it 2-1 from the penalty spot after a questionable VAR decision that Ryan Giggs labelled ‘a joke’. Griezmann duly converted the penalty.
Trailing 2-1 at the break, France went 4-1 up after Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe strikes before Mario Mandzukic pulled one back.
In the 83rd minute, with Croatia 4-2 behind, Rakitic was fouled by Pogba. Pinata awarded the free and Rakitic took it quickly, and slipped in a great ball for Ivan Perisic to get behind the French defence.
Pinata was not having it and called back play.
The whole idea of giving the attacking team a free is to give them an advantage after the opposition has committed a foul. The ball was dead and Rakitic took it from the correct position.
The referee was not having it as he had not blown his whistle. Farcical nit-picking that punished a team trying desperately to get back into the match.
Rakitic’s response was understandable – he dropped to the ground in horror before picking himself up and sarcastically applauding the referee. The only surprise was that he avoided a yellow card for the clear display of petulance.
Rakitic made a few fouls in the closing stages as frustration got the better of him.
Still, he ended the game without getting cautioned at it ruined one fan’s 200/1 bet:
As if Rakitic has sarcastically clapped the referee, and then taken someone out from behind in the space of 3 minutes and still not been carded…
Glad I didn’t put more than 50p on this now… pic.twitter.com/874MJUhydz
— DAZ (@AFCDavid147) July 15, 2018
So close yet so far.
Rakitic knows the feeling.
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