Referee causes outrage at FIFA Club World Cup, Atletico Madrid suffers loss

(NLDO) - Referee Istvan Kovacs angered public opinion in the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup.

In the opening match of Group B between PSG and Atletico Madrid, Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs made many decisions that caused public outrage, of course, most of them were beneficial to the French team that had just won the European Championship.

Coach Diego Simeone was upset with the referee but did not speak directly at the press conference

In the 23rd minute, Giuliano Simeone quickly escaped after a long pass from his teammate from home. However, the Atletico Madrid player was pulled down by PSG defender Nuno Mendes. After falling to the ground, the Portuguese defender deliberately used his hand to push the ball away, preventing Atletico Madrid from taking a quick free kick.

Referee Istvan Kovacs' decision angered the coaching staff and Atletico Madrid fans. Simeone was tackled while running towards the goalkeeper and according to the rules, the player who committed this foul would have received a red card. However, Mr. Kovacs did not give any punishment to Mendes even though the match was supported by the most modern technology.

Clement Lenglet receives a second yellow card

Many fans commented that this was "a shame for FIFA", because when committing a similar foul in the quarter-final match of the 2023-2024 Champions League, center-back Ronald Araujo (Barcelona) received a red card when facing Bradley Barcola of PSG (PSG again).

.... and the referee had to give the French midfielder a red card.

At the post-match press conference, coach Diego Simeone said in frustration: "For the past 14 years, I have not spoken to the referees." He did not want to mention Julian Alvarez's goal that was disallowed in the 58th minute, or the situation where the referee gave a second yellow card to defender Clement Lenglet in the 77th minute for reacting, forgetting that he had given Lenglet a yellow card earlier.

Coach Diego Simeone applauds after referee cancels Julian Alvarez's goal

Koke believes that Atletico Madrid not losing is unusual when they have to face extremely harsh decisions from the referee. Without losing any players, avoiding a goal and even playing with one more player, PSG with an extremely strong squad scored 4 goals against Atletico Madrid, almost certainly holding one of the two tickets to Group B to the knockout round of the FIFA Club World Cup. The two remaining opponents in the same group, Botafogo (Brazil) and Seattle Sounders (USA), are not highly rated in the battle for the right to continue.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/trong-tai-gay-phan-no-tai-fifa-club-world-cup-atletico-madrid-om-han-196250616101526103.htm