Anthony Taylor again! Croatia fans blast referee for offside shocker against Belgium in World Cup 2022
During Croatia and Belgium's Group F encounter at the Qatar World Cup 2022, the 2018 runners-up were awarded a penalty - only to be overturned as offside by referee Anthony Taylor.
FollowThe Qatar World Cup 2022 has been marred with several VAR inconsistencies. Even if your nose hair is offside, the automated offside system used for the showpiece tournament will penalise you mercilessly. But as Croatians will confirm on Thursday, it still hurts to be surprised by a crazily slim margin. And believe it or not, referee Anthony Taylor, who has had a few controversial decisions recently, was in the thick of perhaps the harshest offside calls of all time during Croatia's Group F finale against Belgium.
Going against Belgium, the 2018 runners-up knew that a win would guarantee their advancement to the round of 16.
When referee Anthony Taylor called a penalty for a foul by Yannick Carrasco on Andrej Kramari, Croatia believed they had a golden opportunity to grab the lead in the first half. But as the ball was brought into the box, Taylor was called to the pitchside monitor to look for offside against Dejan Lovren while Luka Modric was poised to take the penalty.
Even though Lovren didn't touch the ball, the offside rule caused the penalty to be overturned.
A few days ago, Anthony Taylor sparked outrage during South Korea's 2-3 loss to Ghana. In the dying minutes of the 10-minute stoppage time, South Korea won the 12th corner of their clash but was not allowed to take the same by the English referee as he blew the full-time whistle. Irate South Korean players surrounded the official, and head coach Paulo Bento too rushed towards him. An argument between the South Korean coach and Anthony Taylor resulted in the former getting a red card.
Premier League followers instantly recalled Anthony Taylor's howlers during Chelsea's 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at the start of this season. Anthony Taylor's questionable handling of some of the events during the game left the Blue fans simply annoyed. After the match, supporters even started an online petition calling for Taylor to be barred from officiating Chelsea games in the future. The petition received more than one lakh signatures, and Thomas Tuchel, then manager of Chelsea, had categorically endorsed it.
Croatia fans were miffed with Anthony Taylor's decision, with several users questioning how that was ruled offside. "Anthony Taylor and his EPL crew came to show how bad English refs are. How is that an offside," said one user on Twitter.
"I'm back to remind everyone again and again and again. Anthony Taylor is theeeeeee worst ref of all time," noted another annoyed fan, while a third remarked, "You simply cannot explain or justify this. VAR and Anthony Taylor are disgraces that take away from the game."
"Take VAR away and we'll still have terrible refs like Anthony Taylor… the fact is no matter what, getting a fair and good ref is basically impossible," said a fourth fan.
Here's a look at some of the reactions slamming Anthony Taylor and his refereeing skills:
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