Even thou the semi-final match between Argentina and Croatia finished with a comfortable 3-0 win, the first goal of the match, scored by Lionel Messi in the 34th minute from the penalty spot, caused a controversy, the only one in this match. Italian referee Daniele Orsato pointed at the spot after Julian Alvarez passed the ball behind Dominik Livakovic’s back, but the Croatian keeper stopped the Argentinian player altogether. Looked like a penalty no doubt, but…After the match, Croatian player Lovro Majer commented on the decision, claiming it wasn’t penalty at all. And he got a surprise support from former British players Garry Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright. Former Manchester United and Arsenal players commented the game and unanimously agreed that Orsato made a mistake, as Livakovic had no option but to ran into Alvarez since he was right there in front of him.“Not a penalty, not all all, I didn’t think it was at the time. The ‘keeper comes out, he stops himself as the shot is about to be taken and Alvarez runs into him and takes his leg away. What is he meant to do? That is not a penalty” said Neville for ITV.🎙️ Gary Neville: “There is no way that is a penalty.”🎙️ Ian Wright: “They didn’t even check the VAR. I have no idea why. It’s not a penalty.”🎙️ Roy Keane: “I agree with the lads, that’s not a penalty for me.” #ARG | #HRV | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/0gwyU1z3En— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) December 13, 2022 And Wright agreed: “The referee hasn’t even looked back at it, I just don’t understand”Roy Keane, a man who usually has a different opinion was totally in line with his colleagues: “I agree with the boys, I don’t think it was a penalty, where else was he meant to go?”##NAJAVA_MECA_6886040##Unlike the British, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić didn’t even mentioned the penalty after the defeat.”I congratulate Argentina on the victory. We have to pull ourselves together, raise our heads. I can’t blame the boys for anything — we are going into the fight for third place. We don’t have much to complain about. We have prepared everything but we missed a real, genuine attacker. We lost the match, I have nothing to complain about regarding the boys. They gave their best during this whole tournament…. It is a deserved defeat” said Dalić.
