Ante Rebic was the one who opened the scoring against Argentina capitalising on a godawful mistake from Willy Caballero to volley the ball into the net and generally running the Argentina team ragged.
The winger was so unimpressed with Argentina’s display that he changed his mind about asking for Messi’s jersey after the game.
“To be honest, I wanted to get Messi’s jersey for my friend, who is a big fan of Leo,” the 24-year-old player told Goal. “But the Argentines made such a bad impression on me that I gave up on asking Messi for his jersey.
“Honestly, I expected much more. At least of those players from the Premier League, who are used to a high tempo and duels. You saw Nicolas Otamendi – in the fourth minute Mandzukic passed by him and he was rolling on the floor. I am disappointed by their behaviour and lack of fair play, not to mention how they provoked us. An athlete should know how to deal with defeat.”
Rebic was also unimpressed with the referee saying he did not have the experience to referee such a game
“The referee was not of a quality level and it is not the first time it has happened at the World Cup, with many referees without experience in some of biggest competitions like the Champions League.
“We felt a lot of decisions went Argentina’s way, so I was sure he wasn’t going to show me a second yellow card. I appreciate this is the World Cup and you have to have referees from all over, but it’s important that these matches be led by referees who can match the importance and the pace of the match. For example, the referee didn’t even have football boots but only regular sneakers! That shocked us.
“I feel sorry to be nervous about some referee’s decisions now rather than enjoying my goal and the fact we smashed Argentina. When Otamendi deliberately kicked Rakitic with the ball, that was clear red card. But, it only makes our victory sweeter.”