Switzerland coach rips Breel Embolo red card decision: 'Rule destroyed our game'

· Yahoo Sports

KANSAS CITY, MO — Switzerland coach Murat Yakin ripped the referee for the decision to give Breel Embolo a second yellow card for simulation after a VAR check, forcing the Swiss to play the rest of the World Cup quarterfinal against Argentina with 10 men.

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The Swiss striker left the field sobbing after he was shown the red card in the 72nd minute. The game went to extra time, and Argentina won 3-1.

"In my opinion, it was a harmless foul. If it even was a foul," Yakin said through a translator. "This rule destroyed our game today and it was incredibly painful. To be eliminated that way hurt a lot."

Argentina's Leandro Paredes was initially given a yellow card for a tackle from behind. But VAR official Guillermo Pacheco informed referee João Pinheiro that he believed the yellow card should have gone to Embolo for simulation instead.

Replays clearly showed Embolo went to the ground without being touched by Paredes. Embolo actually kicked at Paredes as he was falling.

"The red card, we were punished because of a rule that in my opinion is completely unacceptable. I don’t understand," Yakin said. "It's very painful we were eliminated that way. I don't think we deserved that today."

Because Embolo already had a yellow card from the first half, the second yellow became a red and he was ejected from the game.

"You can imagine how he’s doing," Yakin said. "I don’t blame him at all. That would be absurd."

Switzerland had momentum before Embolo was ejected, scoring the equalizer in the 67th minute. But they weren't able to maintain that, and Argentina scored twice in extra time to advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive World Cup.

"We’re not going to move to the semifinals but I think that we deserved to be there," Yakin said. "I think we were much better in the course of the game and momentum was on our side. ... When you play in a stadium that is filled with mostly Argentina fans, it is so great we were able to dominate."

There have been suggestions throughout the World Cup that referees are intentionally making calls to favor Argentina. Yakin had dismissed that notion ahead of the game with Argentina and, despite his anger over the red card, did so again after the quarterfinal.

"I wouldn’t say that they are being favored. We had a very fair and open match," Yakin said. "Both teams played football and, unfortunately, we didn’t come out on top today. (But) it's very clear football didn’t come out on top.

"It was a very harmless foul and a yellow card was awarded," he added. "VAR interfered."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Switzerland coach rips Breel Embolo red card decision: 'Rule destroyed our game'

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