Manchester City midfielder Rodri has complained to FIFA about the level of officiating in Spain's World Cup semi-final victory over France, specifically criticising the failure to protect teenage star Lamine Yamal from persistent fouls.
Spain book final spot with dominant display
Spain secured a 2-0 win over tournament favourites France in Dallas on Tuesday, earning a place in Sunday's World Cup final. Despite being considered underdogs against the 2018 winners and 2022 runners-up, Spain produced an impressive performance to reach the showpiece match.
Lamine Yamal, 19, won a penalty midway through the first half after being fouled by Lucas Digne, and striker Mikel Oyarzabal converted from the spot. Pedro Porro added a second goal with 30 minutes remaining to seal the victory.
Rodri's frustration with refereeing
Speaking after the match, Rodri expressed pride in his team's performance but criticised referee Iván Barton and his officials for not protecting Yamal. "It's obvious," Rodri said. "We've been dealing with this situation for three games now, there have been too many fouls. We're talking about 10 or 15 fouls where the kid [Lamine Yamal] goes to the ground. If the referees do not call them, then the defence will keep doing the same thing. The permissiveness is clear and was especially obvious today. But he still played a great match."
Rodri also praised Spain's overall display: "I'm very proud of my team and what it represents for us. Now it's time to rest because we probably have the most important match of our lives on Sunday. Nullifying the opponent was part of what we wanted to achieve and then to take the game to our style of play. It was impressive."
Vieira admits France fell short
France World Cup winner Patrick Vieira acknowledged that the better team progressed. "It was a big expectation of France to win the World Cup," he told ITV. "We are all really disappointed by the result but mostly by the performance because we needed our top players to perform today and they didn't do it. It wasn't one or two that were missing, all of them were missing. Collectively we were really bad. Spain dominated the game in every single aspect of it. Spain were the better team. I don't think France turned up at all."
Spain will now face either defending champions Argentina or England in the World Cup final in New York on Sunday night.
