Highly criticized by the French for his refereeing in the final, deemed favorable to Argentina, the Polish referee appeared at a press conference and defended his choices.
Some of the French took a dislike to him. For them, it is one of those responsible for the defeat of the French team in the World Cup final against Argentina (3-3, 4-2 TAB). The day after the match, a photo published by the newspaper l’Équipe, showing two Argentinians present illegally on the field at the moment of the third goal, reinforced the feeling that Mr. Marciniak had favored the Argentinians. The sports daily had also awarded him the low score of 2/10 for his performance.
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In a press conference organized this Friday, the Polish referee defended himself against this photo and the other criticisms by counter-attacking. “The French didn’t mention this photo, where you can see how there are seven Frenchmen on the pitch when Mbappé scores a goal“, he explained.
Regarding the photo on Messi’s third goal, he believes that pointing the finger at the presence of the Argentines from the bench on the lawn is like looking for the little beast: “QWhat was the impact of the guys getting up and jumping on the pitch? There are serious newspapers and those looking for buzz. Friends, great referees of France, have written to me. The reception was great. Many professionals and footballers have sent us congratulations. Kylian Mbappé said we were great referees.For him, it’s clear his refereeing was up to this final.
In addition, Mr. Marciniak recounted the few moments spent with Kylian Mbappé after the final whistle: “I saw him shot. He was probably the man of the match, if we can say that for someone who didn’t win the match. I saw tears flowing. He looked at me, he saw that I had just shaken hands with Hugo Lloris and he took a step, so I went to see him too, and we said hello.»
«I congratulated him on his match, his great match. He’s a great player. He also said that we (him and his assistant referees) had done a good performance, that he was not a great judge and thanked us… He looked down and he surprised me a little, because I just wanted to shake his hand. But these are emotions. I consoled him by telling him that I was sorry it ended like this, because the game was amazing.he added to the Polish media.
