Serbia edged past Costa Rica 1-0 in their opening Group E fixture on Sunday. Serbian captain Aleksander Kolarov scored a free-kick in the 56th minute to give Serbia the victory.
Towards the end of the match, a tussle between Man United star Nemanja Matic and Costa Rica’s coach Luis Marin triggered a huge bust-up between players from both sides.
Following a throw-in just before the final whistle, Matic tried to snatch the ball from Marin who turned his back on him. This made Matic furious as Marin refused to let go of the ball in the final minutes.
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Matic became aggressive and got into a fight with Marin and other players also got involved. Luckily for Matic, the fourth official took control of the situation and calmed down the tempers on both sides.
This reaction from Matic was surprising as Serbia was already winning the match and any time wasting tactic by Costa Rica’s coach would have gone in Serbia’s favour.
As of now, no action has been taken against Matic or Marin for their involvement in the clash that at one point threatened to get out of hand.