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 Rakiticcompleted 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.”