Portugal coach praises refereeing after controversial move against Croatia

Coach Roberto Martínez stated that Portugal deserved the 2-1 victory over Croatia in the second phase of the World Cup and came out in defense of the refereeing after a game marked by VAR decisions.

The Portuguese secured qualification with a header from Gonçalo Ramos in stoppage time, after Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty awarded after a video review, tying the match after Ivan Perišić's opening goal.

In the final moments, Croatia found the net, but the shot was canceled for offside after a new VAR review. The decision sparked outrage among Croatian fans present at the stadium in Toronto, who threw objects onto the pitch.

"There were no wrong decisions. Today we were happy. The review showed that there was offside, and the penalty was also clear," said Martínez.

"I understand (Zlatko) Dalić's work with this team and it's a shame that there could only be one winner."

Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić, on the other hand, criticized the refereeing performance and stated that he was dissatisfied with what he classified as "bad refereeing".

Qualified, Portugal will face Spain in the quarterfinals, in Dallas. Martínez believes that the clash will be one of the biggest games of the tournament.

"We really respect the quality of Spain. I think it will be a fantastic match, the great European duel of this World Cup", he said.

When asked about how he deals with pressure in decisive games, the coach said he learned to control his emotions and remain calm during matches.

"I lost my hair because of this", he joked. "But I think it was worth it."

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Source: CNN