No punches pulled
The Wellington Phoenix team suffered its first loss of the A-League season in Adelaide last night, and it's fair to say that the referee and his linesmen won't be on the club's Christmas card list. The side was on the wrong end of a string of refereeing decisions in the second half.
And skipper Andrew Durante hasn't endeared himself to A-League officials with a "candid" post-match interview in which no punches were pulled; news.co.au reports:
Adelaide United's double-scorer
Jeronimo Neumann has been branded a cheat by Wellington Phoenix captain
Andrew Durante for diving in a bitter A-League fixture at Hindmarsh
Stadium on Saturday.
The Phoenix were left fuming after defender Ben Sigmund was given a
straight red card for bringing Jeronimo down as the last defender
during the Reds' 3-1 win, but replays suggested the Argentine’s reaction was significantly delayed.
Durante was incensed at the time, as he was when Cassio scored
Adelaide’s second goal after receiving a pass from a seemingly-offside
Jeronimo, and the Wellington skipper didn’t hold back during the
post-game interview with Fox Sports.
"We got a few tough decisions against us," Durante said.
"I think the first one was offside from what I saw, the second one he's dived. He’s a cheat.
"In my book, if he’s dived, he’s a cheat. I think the referees were shocking tonight.
"To
end the game with a referee’s decision like that ... I mean, that
linesman on that far side did nothing to help this game. I thought it
was extremely poor.
After watching video footage of the Sigmund incident, Herbert confirmed the club would ask for a review of the red card.
"I think we have to, looking at that," Herbert said.
Asked in the media conference if he thought Neumann had dived Herbert
suggested those asking the question had seen the same footage and that
they should make up their own minds.
Players who dive are a blight on the game. So are referees and linesmen who don't do their jobs properly. Andrew Durante might find the A-League picking his pocket, but he only said what everyone else saw; the video does not lie.
Adelaide was the better side last night, but the 'Nix got the raw prawn from inept match officials.
1 comment:
The offside goal is hard enough to stomach, but that happens. it is absolute split second stuff at times, but the diving to get an opponenet sent off, as a football fan for all of my 45 years just turns my guts.
The boys were battling but were still well in the game until those two terrible decisions put the kybosh on any hope.
One thing can be taken for granted though. Mr Jeronimo Neuman will get a very warm welcome from the yellow fever when he makes an appearance in Wellington on Sunday 24 Feb.
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