{"id":102016,"date":"2026-07-12T06:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/102016\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T06:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:56:17","slug":"swiss-coach-murat-yakin-blasts-world-cup-official-for-red-card-in-loss-to-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/102016\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss coach Murat Yakin blasts World Cup official for red card in loss to Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) \u2014 Switzerland forward Breel Embolo was sent off in the second half of its World Cup<\/a> quarterfinal loss to Argentina on Saturday night, a controversial decision following a video review that is certain to fuel those who believe referees have been biased toward the reigning champion throughout the tournament.<\/p>\n

Dan Ndoye had just tied the game at 1-all in the 67th minute when Argentina\u2019s Leandro Paredes was shown a yellow card following a tackle on Embolo. But video showed that the Swiss player was falling before Paredes made contact with him, so Embolo was given a yellow card under the \u201cmistaken identity\u201d protocol that\u2019s being used at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Embolo also had received a yellow card earlier in the match, so he was sent off and the Swiss were left to play with 10 men the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

Switzerland managed to get the game to extra time, and was trying to survive to a shootout. But then Juli\u00e1n Alvarez scored from long range in the 112th minute, and Lautaro Mart\u00ednez added another goal a few minutes later, sending Argentina to a 3-1 victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were punished because of a rule that in my opinion is completely unacceptable,\u201d Swiss coach Murat Yakin said. \u201cIt\u2019s very painful that we were eliminated that way. I don\u2019t think we deserve that today, and in my opinion, my boys are the real heroes. They put all their heart and their passion into their performance. I am very proud. They are very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yakin wasn\u2019t done with his criticism of Portuguese referee Jo\u00e3o Pinheiro, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe referee made the wrong decision,\u201d Yakin said. \u201cIt was in my opinion a harmless foul, if it even was a foul. I know they will protect their referee but this rule destroyed our game today, and it\u2019s very painful, and to be eliminated in that way hurts a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni acknowledged that \u201cluck was on our side because one of their players was sent off.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the second time a yellow card was overturned using the \u201cmistaken identity\u201d protocol at the World Cup. The relatively obscure rule allows the video assistant referee to intervene when an incorrect player is shown a yellow or red card.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the red card changed our game,\u201d Swiss captain Granit Xhaka said. \u201cThis decision was difficult to accept now after the game because the dressing room was very quiet, disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Egyptian Football Association said it \u201ccannot remain silent\u201d after what it believed was biased officiating in its 3-2 loss to Argentina in the Round of 16. Egypt coach Hossam Hassan and several players had criticized the officiating<\/a> after the defending champion scored three unanswered goals to pull off one of the biggest comebacks in World Cup<\/a> history.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials,\u201d FIFA\u2019s chief of refereeing Pierluigi Collina said in response Wednesday. \u201cWhen this happens, it may provoke reactions that lead to threats against them and their families. This is not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yakin stopped short of saying Argentina was being favored by World Cup referees. But he also did not hold back about an incident that he believes changed the complexion of Saturday night\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were punished by a referee\u2019s mistake,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know this rule before. It was a very harmless situation, and then a yellow card was awarded. The VAR interfered. It was a very meaningful moment for us, and it was decisive in the outcome of the match.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) \u2014 Switzerland forward Breel Embolo was sent off in the second half of its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[1680,49526,23391,20692,23401,10940,20916,50362,50331,29624,50360,193,616,50359,49888,15352,50361,50363,2019,2664,307,33915,17,20691],"class_list":["post-102016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-argentina","tag-argentina-national-soccer-team","tag-breel-embolo","tag-central-america","tag-dan-ndoye","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-granit-xhaka","tag-joo-pinheiro","tag-julian-alvarez","tag-kansas","tag-ks-state-wire","tag-latin-america","tag-lautaro-martinez","tag-leandro-paredes","tag-lionel-scaloni","tag-missouri","tag-mo-state-wire","tag-pierluigi-collina","tag-soccer","tag-south-america","tag-sports","tag-sports-officiating","tag-switzerland","tag-switzerland-national-soccer-team"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116905704504464587","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}