GRAHAM POLL - MY VERDICT: Croatia, masters of the dark arts, were initially undone by a dive which fooled Nestor Pitana, the Argentinian referee. Antoine Griezmann anticipated a foul by Marcelo Brozovic and flung his legs out behind himself. The way both his legs flew out was a real tell-tale sign for any experienced match official so I was surprised Pitana was taken in. That free kick led to the first goal. Some questioned whether it should have stood with Paul Pogba in an offside position. He didn’t touch the ball and wasn’t interfering with play so the goal was rightly allowed. ...read
Referee Nestor Pitana was spot on with VAR World Cup final penalty... Ivan Perisic handled the ball deliberately
