GARY LINEKER has revealed the cruel move by a referee that ruined his moment after an El Clasico hat-trick.
The 62-year-old was reminiscing about his days with Barcelona where he spent three years of his illustrious career.
GettyGary Lineker was brought back down to earth by a Spanish referee following his El Clasico hat-trick[/caption]
GettyLineker spent three years playing in Spain for Barcelona after making the switch from Everton[/caption]
The former England star told the story of his hat-trick for Barcelona against Real Madrid in 1987.
Lineker looked back on chipping Madrid goalkeeper Paco Buyo to net his third goal after scoring two in the opening five minutes.
Speaking to GOAL he said: “It was the first one [El Clasico] I’d played at the Nou Camp and I scored two goals in the first five minutes – both from very close range.
“And I had goose bumps. The noise was incredible, in front of 120,000 fans.
“It was about five minutes into the second half and I was one-on-one withy the goalkeeper who I believe was [Paco] Buyo. I’ve dinked it over him and when I saw it going in it was just magical.”
But despite the euphoria that Lineker must have been feeling in that moment, he was denied a longstanding English tradition by the referee.
After bagging his hat-trick he was expecting to take the match ball home with him.
But when he asked the referee for the ball, he had no clue what Lineker was talking about and refused to hand it over.
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The former Leicester and Spurs striker said: “The referee had the ball in his hands.
“I went up to him and asked him for the ball, but he was going ‘Que? Porque? No.’
“I went ‘I’ve scored three goals’ and he just didn’t get it. It wasn’t a thing in Spain back then and so I never got it [the ball].”
Barcelona ended up 3-2 winners in the game and Lineker was still able to celebrate the three points regardless of missing out on the match ball.
The Match of the Day host ended up playing 138 times for the Catalan club, scoring 51 goals before moving to Tottenham in 1989.