Jamie Carragher put his Sky Sports allegiances to one side to go against Gary Neville’s stance on Argentina’s penalty vs Croatia.
Lionel Messi was given the chance to open the scoring in the first World Cup semi final after Julian Alvarez went down under the challenge of keeper Dominik Livakovic. Referee Daniele Orsato wasted no time in pointing to the spot, sparking wild Croatia protests.
Mateo Kovacic was shown a yellow card for dissent, while coach Mario Mandzukic and another assistant were given their marching orders. Replays appeared to show the decision was a relatively straightforward one, there was plenty of debate within the ITV studio.
Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright were all steadfast against the penalty being awarded, forcing Peter Walton to defend the official.
"This is not a penalty. What else can he do?” Neville asked. “He has to make that motion to try and save the ball, he plants his feet. If he’d carried on running out and taken out Álvarez then fair enough, but he stops before it and I don’t know if that’s a penalty."
Referring back to former Premier League referee Walton, ITV anchor asked Mark Pougatch what else the keeper could have done…”Well win the ball firstly,” he replied.
“He’s challenging for the ball and misses the ball completely, then catches the player, in fact what he’s done there is get in the path of that forward and he’s impeded his progress, so it has to be a foul.
“I can understand in terms of asking where else can he go, but in parallel to that you think of an outfield player who slides in to make a challenge, reaches the ball but catches the man, it’s always a foul. Fast forward to the goalkeeper, he’s done exactly the same.”
Neville then replied: “Peter, are you suggesting the goalkeeper, who is coming out in the line of the ball, has to move out of the way to allow a player to have a free shot?”
Walton answered: “No, but his forward motion going towards the forward has meant there is a collision happening. If that’s the case, he’s been careless in his approach, so it’s a foul, it may seem harsh, but it’s a foul because you can clearly see that.
“If you turn it on its head, and say no it wasn’t a foul, could you imagine the commotion now? It was a foul.”
The row sparked plenty of debate on social media and Carragher nailed his colours to the mast quickly. posting:: “Peter Walton boom!” He also retweeted another post which read: “Entire ITV panel says that it wasn’t a penalty. “Peter Walton, what else is the keeper supposed to do? Well, win the ball. Walton out here collecting bodies.”
What wasn’t in debate however was Argentina’s third goal. Lionel Messi, who has become Argentina’s record World Cup scorer, danced past Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol to set up Alvarez with a simple finish.
Carragher tweeted: “Messi the best there has ever been!” Neville also praised the majestic Paris Saint-Germain superstar: “Wow Messi! What a pleasure to watch that!”
