Spain had the game under control, 3-0 up against Croatia, and it was only in the final quarter of an hour that things could have gotten complicated. Unai Simón’s mistake in the ball out led to a penalty by Rodri Hernández on Bruno Petković . An obvious contact and a penalty that left no room for doubt, although there was a greater question about the colour of the card that Michael Oliver should have shown.

Finally, the English referee opted for yellow . But he could have done it with the red one, since it is a gray play and a clear interpretation by the referee. ” Fortunately, the referee has considered a ball dispute ,” said Mateu Lahoz in COPE’s Tiempo de Juego . A few words from the former Spanish referee that show that the expulsion of the Manchester City midfielder would not have been a wrong decision.

Precisely, what Mateu Lahoz comments is the key to everything to determine if that play deserves a yellow or a red. The fact that the ball was very close to where Rodri tripped Petković served as a mitigating factor for the Spaniard , who will thus be available for the second match of the group stage against Italy. Of course, he is already saddled with a warning in a short tournament where the cycles are also short.

If Rodri had brought down the Croatian with no chance of playing the ball , or with the ball being much further away, Oliver would have shown the Spaniard a straight red card .

Goal disallowed due to area invasion

The outcome of the play was also interesting from the referee’s point of view . Bruno Petković was unable to beat Unai Simón on the first attempt, but he was able to beat Unai Simón on the second attempt with an assist from Perišić. However, the VAR reviewed the play and found that only Croatian players had invaded the area (specifically, Perišić, who was actively involved in the play), so Oliver awarded an indirect free kick in favour of Spain and did not order the penalty to be retaken .