Enzo Fernandez has been told he should have been sent off before eventually getting his marching orders in the World Cup final. That is the opinion of former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee Keith Hackett, who said the Chelsea star was lucky not to receive an earlier sending off for dissent.
Fernandez's first yellow card
Argentina failed to defend their crown in Sunday's final, losing 1-0 to Spain in extra-time. The South American side had to play the 30 minutes of added time without the Blues talisman, who was shown a red in the 93rd minute.
The 25-year-old first received a yellow in the 82nd minute after screaming at referee Slavko Vincic, who declined to award a foul in Argentina's favour. Fernandez was noticeably miffed by the decision and sarcastically applauded Vincic when being handed the booking.
Hackett's verdict
Fernandez's reaction would have resulted in an immediate second yellow in the Premier League but the midfielder remained on the pitch. However, moments before the full-time whistle blew, Fernandez aggressively clattered into Pau Cubarsi and was then shown a second yellow, and subsequently a red card.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Hackett said Vincic's lenient decision to not send off Fernandez for dissent saved the Argentina star from an earlier shower. He said: "I think that he was fortunate, but I think that there's always, in a final, a reluctance to some degree to issue a red card."
"And I think that we saw that this referee was in those opening stages and right up to this fairly lenient with his approach. What was said was pretty robust, which caused the reaction of the referee, who was clearly, with his body language, very unhappy with what he said."
"So on that first point, I wondered if that in itself, what was said to the referee, was sufficient to warrant a reaction and the possibility of a red card? I think it's likely that the referee didn't see the player applauding because I think he was concerned about getting the game restarted."
"From a VAR point of view, they were right not to come in. So, I think generally in a final of this nature, this player was fortunate."
Blame on Scaloni
Hackett placed blame on Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni for failing to rein in Fernandez's discipline. He added: "I would say the manager, if he's seen that, has a choice. A choice to get a message to that player to improve his discipline. And a choice for the captain of the team to do likewise."
"They didn't. Had he done that, there might have been consideration of substituting him to prevent the red card." Unfortunately for Scaloni, he had already used all five of his substitutions. Playing with a man down throughout extra time, Argentina ultimately fell 1–0 to Spain following a second-period extra-time goal by Ferran Torres.
Fernández became only the sixth player in men's World Cup history - and the third from Argentina - to be sent off in a final.
