The winger was glowing after his side's win
but was disappointed by Argentina's
behaviour, stating "athletes should know how
to deal with defeat"
Ante Rebic was so disappointed in Argentina's
performance and conduct in Croatia's 3-0 win
over them that he decided not to ask Lionel
Messi to swap jerseys.
Rebic opened the scoring in the second
half when he capitalised on a Willy Caballero
error to volley past the goalkeeper before
Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic completed a
resounding win as Croatia booked their spot
in the last-16 of the World Cup.
Croatia defender Sime Vrsaljko taunted the
Argentina players for their reaction to the
loss, saying they were "crying like girls", and
Rebic was even more disappointed with Messi
and Co.
"To be honest, I wanted to get Messi's jersey
for my friend, who is a big fan of Leo," the
24-year-old player told Goal. "But the
Argentines made such a bad impression on
me that I gave up on asking Messi for his
jersey.
"Honestly, I expected much more. At least of
those players from the Premier League, who
are used to a high tempo and duels. You saw
Nicolas Otamendi - in the fourth minute
Mandzukic passed by him and he was rolling
on the floor. I am disappointed by their
behaviour and lack of fair play, not to
mention how they provoked us. An athlete
should know how to deal with defeat."
The Eintracht Frankfurt player moved his
criticism on to referee Ravshan Irmatov,
suggesting the Uzbek did not have enough
experience at the top level to run such a
game.
"The referee was not of a quality level and it
is not the first time it has happened at the
World Cup, with many referees without
experience in some of biggest
competitions like the Champions League.
"We felt a lot of decisions went Argentina's
way, so I was sure he wasn't going to show
me a second yellow card. I appreciate this is
the World Cup and you have to have referees
from all over, but it's important that these
matches be led by referees who can match
the importance and the pace of the match.
For example, the referee didn't even have
football boots but only regular sneakers! That
shocked us.
"I feel sorry to be nervous about some
referee's decisions now rather than enjoying
my goal and the fact we smashed
Argentina. When Otamendi deliberately kicked
Rakitic with the ball, that was clear red card.
But, it only makes our victory sweeter."
Rebic scuppered an opportunity in the first
half when he sent an effort wide of the target
but recovered shortly after the break, and was
delighted to see the ball hit the top corner of
the net after Caballero's wild pass fell
perfectly for him.
"I don't even know how many messages I
received after the match!" he added. "This
was the best game I've played for Croatia
and, along with the recent German Cup final
against Bayern, the best in my career.
"I've looked at my goal 100 times by
now. Turned out pretty good, didn't it? I
thought defenders would catch me if I was to
bring the ball down and control it before
shooting, so I shot first time without thinking
much.
"I had big chance at the end of first half. I did
everything wrong: first touch, shot, I didn't
pass the ball... Luckily the half-time break
arrived, I needed it to pull myself together.
"After the Nigeria game we didn't celebrate
much. I spent most of the time at the doping
test, but this time we celebrated in the locker
room, the bus, the plane... But, we shouldn't
stop here, now that we've passed the group
stage."
