Damir Desnica He is a former Croatian player who made a career in Rijeka in the 80s. His name is unknown to the general public, but he will go down in history for having been expelled against the Real Madrid for protesting the referee … being deaf-mute.
It happened in the knockout round of the UEFA Cup 1984/1985. In the first leg the Croatian team surprised the whites by winning 3-1 and on the return leg the Madrid rallied (3-0) largely thanks to a very controversial performance by the Belgian referee Roger Schoeters, according to the chronicles of the time and certifies himself Desnica in an interview to the program ‘Què t’hi jugues’, from Cadena SER, in which he answered the questions in his own handwriting. The referee not only sent off Desnica instead, he sent two other players to the street and blew an “invented” penalty in favor of the Madrid, who in the end was champion of the competition.
“The referee literally destroyed us with the three expulsions, he decided to steal the game from us,” explains the former player, 63. “He expelled me unfairly and used all possible techniques to avoid the victory of Rejika. The penalty that whistle is invented and Madrid was only able to mark us after three expulsions and an invented penalty, “he adds.
On his expulsion, he comments: “Still today I still do not understand why he took the second yellow card and expelled me. It's incomprehensible! The referee blew a foul, but I didn't hear the whistle and kept running. When I saw everyone stop, I decided to throw the ball out and I got the first yellow card. And then he took out the second one and kicked me out. The explanation he gave me is that he had protested. Amazing”.
“Everyone knows that the Rijeka He was superior and he played that game much better. The UEFA He decided to suspend the referee for life and I think it is the best decision they could make. I sincerely believe that they helped Madrid because it would have been a shame for them if a modest eliminated them ”, he explains. “The Bernabéu thing was an absolute injustice”, ditch.