Big football names amazed after World Cup match Ivan Perišić

Ivan Perišić ensured victory for Croatia to take a 0-1 lead on Friday night in the World Cup match against Portugal. Despite the PSV player’s goal, the Croats lost in stoppage time 2-1 and have therefore been eliminated from the World Cup.

In the extra time of extra time, Perišić & co.’s side still seemed to be heading for 2-2 via Josko Gvardiol. This goal was disallowed for offside, and that sparked a lot of anger among the Croatian players and media.

Even big football names have reacted with disbelief to the decision to reject the 2-2 from the Balkan country. ''This is without a doubt the worst refereeing decision I have ever seen in my career. They really robbed Croatia,'' Jürgen Klopp tells American FOX Sports.

Even French former footballer Thierry Henry has furrowed brows at the ruling that the 2-2 is disallowed. ''I totally don't understand that decision. In my opinion, the referee and the VAR ruined one of the most beautiful moments of the World Cup. You can't disallow such an important goal if the evidence is not clearly conclusive. I've watched the slow-motion footage multiple times and I see nothing that shows that Matanović touched the ball'', says Henry.

Then the Frenchman goes deeper into the VAR. ''If it takes so long to draw lines and to freeze the image, then it is not clear. The referee has allowed the technology to lead. This is exactly why people lose their trust in the VAR,'' said the 1998 world champion.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic goes even further. ''The referees do everything to let Cristiano Ronaldo win the World Cup, and then we’ll hear that Messi is 'the favorite of FIFA.' This was not offside, because the ball did not hit the Croatian player. This is pure theft. The referee and VAR have undone one of the finest moments of the tournament,'' says the Swede.

According to Ibrahimovic, the VAR has too much power. “If you rule out a goal so deep into stoppage time, there must be no doubt. I’ve looked at the situation multiple times from all angles and I don’t see why the goal was disallowed. We’ve reached a point where VAR is no longer only correcting obvious mistakes, but is looking for millimetres that nobody in the stadium can see. This time, both the VAR booth and the referee made a mistake,” concludes the former world striker.