'Very suspicious' - Croatia boss Dalic unhappy after Argentina awarded penalty in World Cup semi-final

• Messi opened scoring from spot
• Keeper Livakovic penalised for foul
• Dalic unhappy with referee's decision

WHAT HAPPENED? The spot kick was awarded after Julian Alvarez poked the ball beyond Dominik Livakovic and the two collided in the Croatia box. Lionel Messi subsequently converted from 12 yards to give Argentina the lead.

WHAT THEY SAID: "The first goal as very suspicious, to be honest. First, we had the situation with the corner. Apparently [we should have had] a corner, according to the reaction of our players. Then we had the situation with the penalty... It was a little bit too cheap and easy."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Messi's penalty set Argentina on their way to a comfortable victory and a place in the final, which had by no means looked the obvious outcome from an evenly matched opening half an hour.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

WHAT NEXT FOR DALIC? Despite the disappointment of a heavy defeat in the semi-finals of the World Cup, Dalic vowed in his post-match interview to continue as Croatia boss until Euro 2024.