Tactically, Croatia-Spain is a match in two halves. Ivan Perisic opens the scoring for Croatia in the 17th minute. Mikel Merino equalises in the 61st. Then Perisic picks up a second yellow in the 79th, Spain play the last quarter of an hour eleven against ten, and Merino does it again in the 88th. 1-2. Spain’s fourth win in four games, and a place in the Nations League quarter-finals.
That’s the summary. What I watched three times is the 79th minute. Marc Cucurella ends up on the ground after a recovery run from Perisic, and he immediately demands the second booking. The referee, Erik Lambrechts, sends Perisic off. And then he drops his red card. Cucurella picks it up and hands it back before the referee can even raise it. He explained it himself: “I saw that the referee couldn’t find his card and I gave it to him.”
I put my mug of coffee down. Because in my dressing room, that gesture is a position. With us, the cards are in the club delegate’s folder (the volunteer who looks after the match paperwork), and the folder has usually stayed in the car. A player who fetches the kit for the referee without being asked, I make him captain on Tuesday. When we’ve got eleven, that is.
To be fair: the Split crowd whistled Cucurella every time he touched the ball, because they accuse him of diving and overdoing it. He says the foul was clear, that Perisic was already booked and that VAR found nothing to complain about. Slaven Bilic came out with a coach’s line that I understand very well: “Who wouldn’t be annoyed with Cucurella if he’s not playing for their team?”
That’s exactly it. The player everybody hates on the other side is the one you want on your team sheet. I’ve written his name in my folder, under “transitions”. A flat pitch away, mind you.
A referee who loses his card and a player who hands it back. Nobody knows who is refereeing any more. Well.
It’s true, we checked: RMC Sport.
