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World Cup Reaction: L'Equipe's harsh ratings and Keano's ref rant

The ecstasy and joy of winning a World Cup couldn’t influence the person tasked with assign...



World Cup Reaction: L'Equi...
Videos

World Cup Reaction: L'Equipe's harsh ratings and Keano's ref rant

The ecstasy and joy of winning a World Cup couldn’t influence the person tasked with assigning player ratings for the World Cup final.

France saw off Croatia 4-2 in a memorable World Cup final as Didier Deschamps became just the third man to win the trophy as both a player and manager.

The success didn't impress French publication L'Equipe much. Their player ratings for the final have raised some eyebrows.

N'Golo Kante's uninspiring performance was met with the lowest rating of any of the players in the France XI, he was given 3 out of 10 after a poor first half which resulted in him being hooked just 10 minutes into the second half after picking up a booking.

The contribution of Blaise Matuidi and Olivier Giroud failed to impress this tough task master who wasn't allowing pride or emotion to tint his glasses blue, they were both awarded 4's.

Despite gifting Croatia a goal, Hugo Lloris was given a 5, Antoinne Griezmann was the highest rated on the French team - he got an 8. 

The referee, who's poor decision making was instrumental in two goals will no doubt get a 10/10 in the eye's of French fans. He awarded a free for a Griezmann dive which resulted in the first goal, before pointing to the spot after penalising a harsh looking handball.

Roy Keane branded the referee of the World Cup final an idiot after he awarded France a penalty. Croatia winger Ivan Perisic was adjudged to have handled in the area, the French scored the spot kick and went on to emerge 4-2 winners.

Referee Nestor Pitana initially did not give the penalty but reversed his decision after reviewing the incident with VAR on the side of the pitch.

Keane felt it was the wrong call: "You need your head examining,"

The former Ireland skipper said to Ian Wright when appearing on ITV, when Wright expressed the view that the referee was right to award a penalty.

"Football is a great game, the greatest game on the planet, but that decision there disgusts me, absolutely disgusts me.

"The Croatian players deserve better than that. It's a ridiculous decision. I'm fuming, disgraceful decision. That referee has never played football, I bet you he has never played football."

"Where is the common sense? We end up talking about the referee. You are not supposed to be talking about referees. We should talk about the players, the quality and we end up talking about this idiot. It's a crazy decision. I am just about to calm down."

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