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18th June 2021
07:16pm BST

At half-time, BBC's Gary Lineker raised the question: "When you've got a team with Perišić, Modrić, people like that - then you have a free-kick 25 yards out and Lovren steps forward, who is a central defender...why?"[caption id="attachment_230165" align="alignnone" width="594"]
(Photo by Petr Josek - Pool/Getty Images)[/caption]
Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand didn't have any sympathy or admiration for his fellow defender and was in disbelief when he seen the centre-back step forward.
"I actually can't believe they allowed him to get anywhere near it. You got to understand your role in the team, and who you are. He's not a free-kick taker in training, never mind on the European stage."Former Euros winner Jürgen Klinsmann compared the situation to a different world class player opting to not take a free-kick despite being the obvious choice. "It would be similar to taking away the free-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo", said the German. "You must be really courageous to do that." Oh... he missed by the way.
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