Croatia thought they had scored a late equalizer against Portugal, but fans were furious when VAR ruled out the stoppage-time goal.
Players react as referee Espen Escazu prepares to announce his decision following a VAR review (Image: Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)
A Croatian supporter threw a bottle onto the pitch after a late equalizing goal against Portugal at the World Cup in Croatia was canceled out. With Croatia eliminated in the last 32, Josko Gvardiol thought extra time had been forced before he was ruled offside.
A dramatic scene unfolded in the 103rd minute when a Manchester City defender sent the ball into the goal. Gvardiol scored after Mario Pasalic converted a flick from Portugal’s Renato Veiga, but Igor Matanovic was deemed to have touched the ball first with his teammate in an offside position.
When VAR was introduced, the mood of jubilant celebration quickly turned to disbelief. Espen Aspas said Gvardiol was offside after Matanovic touched the ball.
Croatian fans were saddened and angry and began throwing bottles and cans onto the Toronto pitch. Even though there were only seconds left, the game could not resume until the deluge was cleared.
“It’s offside,” Matt Upson explained on the BBC. “Because of that first header, it doesn’t matter if Veiga takes another touch.”
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Mark Chapman revealed that former referee Darren Cann said Matanovic definitely touched the ball.
“The last time his teammate played the ball, he was offside. The ball was deflected by a defender and was not played intentionally, so it was offside,” he said.
“Snicko, that’s 100% proof he touched it with a flick-on.”
Bottles littered the pitch after being assaulted by angry Croatian fans (Image: Getty Images)
Mr. Upson was not convinced. “In my view, unless VAR is looking at angles that we haven’t seen, it’s going to be controversial,” he said.
“As far as I can see, it doesn’t look like the direction of the ball has changed. The spin of the ball hasn’t changed and Matanovic doesn’t seem to be touching that ball.”
Portugal’s winning goal came in the 94th minute, when Gonzalo Ramos scored an ingenious header from Rafael Leao’s excellent cross. Cristiano Ronaldo had scored his first goal in a World Cup final, scoring from the penalty spot to cancel out Ivan Perisic’s opener.
Portugal will face Spain in a clash in the last 16 on Monday night.
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