FLASH
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Croatian fans and media have reacted with anger and disappointment after the Croatian national team was eliminated from the World Cup, which is being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The 2-1 defeat to Portugal in Toronto was accompanied by strong controversy after a goal was disallowed in extra time.
Portugal secured qualification thanks to a goal from Gonçalo Ramos in the 94th minute, while the episode that dominated the match occurred in the 103rd minute. Defender Josko Gvardiol scored the equalizer, but it was canceled after a VAR review for offside.
Norwegian referee Espen Eskas initially allowed the goal, but changed his decision after reviewing the footage. According to FIFA's explanation, sensors integrated into the official ball registered a touch of the ball by Igor Matanovic during the build-up, which influenced the decision to disallow the goal.
The decision has caused strong reactions in Croatia. The newspaper “Večernji list” harshly criticized the arbitration, summing up its position with the headline: “Croatia was robbed, intentionally.”
Even the sports media "N1 Sportklub" described the elimination as the "Tragedy in Toronto", considering the cancellation of the equalizing goal as the decisive moment that ended Croatia's dream in this World Cup.
Meanwhile, the portal "Gol.dnevnik.hr" analyzed the controversial episode in detail and commented ironically on the VAR decision.
" The sensors showed that the system registered a touch by the Croatian striker, which was the main argument of VAR for canceling the goal. In those images, it seems that he touched the ball only with his hair. Well, if Matanovic had been bald, Croatia would have equalized the score ," writes Croatian media.
Dissatisfaction has also been reflected on social media. According to the portal "Net.hr", many fans have described the decision as unfair and a "robbery", while there has been no shortage of humorous comments, with some of them ironizing Matanović by saying that "he should have been shaved off zero".
Croatia, world runner-up in 2018 and third-place winner at "Qatar 2022", thus ends its adventure in this edition of the World Cup after an unstable campaign and an elimination that has opened a great debate about refereeing decisions.
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