The Croatian national team failed to advance to the last 16 of Euro 2024 and lifted their suitcases early. Vatreni felt cheated by the referee in the match against Italy.
Croatia was eliminated from the 2024 European Cup. Luka Modric et al failed to win in the group phase and finished third in Group B with 3 points.
Croatia got the last chance to qualify when they met Italy at the Red Bull Arena, Tuesday (25/6/2024). Croatia matched the Azzurri 1-1 after conceding in the final seconds of the match.
Referee Danny Makkeilie gave eight minutes of injury time in the match, enough time for Italy to score an equaliser. Criticism came from the Croatian side for this decision.
Croatia coach, Zlatko Dalic, couldn’t understand the length of injury time given by the referee. According to him, Croatia does not get the respect it deserves because of its status as a small country in Europe.
“You can’t give eight minutes of injury time after that match. Eight minutes, that’s unreasonable. There aren’t too many breaks in the game or too many fouls to justify that,” said Dalic after the Croatia vs Italy match.
“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. I don’t want to make a fuss about what happened. I think Croatia needs to be respected and recognized,” he explained.
Former Croatian national team player Joe Simunic also gave scathing comments. He considered that Vatreni was cheated by the referee and that made him and the Croatian people sad.
“We feel cheated and we are very sad! A referee has to treat everyone equally, so he must be a very bad referee,” Simunic told German media Bild.