Zico lambasts referee for denying FC Goa penalty
19 Dec 2014 1:44 AM GMT
Zico said he failed to understand why the same person, who had given a controversial penalty against his team in the group stage against the same opponents, was asked to officiate the important match. Goa lost the match 2-4 on penalties to bow out of the competition at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium on Wednesday.
“We had many chances during the game, like the penalty that was not called by the referee. I didn’t understand why this referee was called, since he was the referee who gave a penalty to Atletico against us in Kolkata. Such mistakes cannot be made in games like these. In the last match, Bruno Pinheiro was given a red card and on Wednesday we were denied a penalty,” Zico said.
Atletico defender Arnab Mondal brought down Goa’s Brazilian recruit Andre Santos inside the penalty box in the 56th minute, evoking a strong shout from the Goa bench but it was swiftly turned down.
Iramatov was also criticised earlier for awarding Atletico a penalty in a group match between the two teams in Kolkata Dec 10 that helped the home team draw 1-1 and qualify for the play-off. Zico also pointed out that Atletico won because of their superior marking skills which did not give the Goans much place to play open football.
“Atletico marked very well and they tried to neutralise us. We get very few chances, which we failed to capitalise. Kolkata lost a lot of their power without striker Fikru. So they changed their strategy and took the game to the penalty and won,” he said. Zico added despite the disappointment, he has spoken to the management and would return to coach Goa for the next two years.
“We had many chances during the game, like the penalty that was not called by the referee. I didn’t understand why this referee was called, since he was the referee who gave a penalty to Atletico against us in Kolkata. Such mistakes cannot be made in games like these. In the last match, Bruno Pinheiro was given a red card and on Wednesday we were denied a penalty,” Zico said.
Atletico defender Arnab Mondal brought down Goa’s Brazilian recruit Andre Santos inside the penalty box in the 56th minute, evoking a strong shout from the Goa bench but it was swiftly turned down.
Iramatov was also criticised earlier for awarding Atletico a penalty in a group match between the two teams in Kolkata Dec 10 that helped the home team draw 1-1 and qualify for the play-off. Zico also pointed out that Atletico won because of their superior marking skills which did not give the Goans much place to play open football.
“Atletico marked very well and they tried to neutralise us. We get very few chances, which we failed to capitalise. Kolkata lost a lot of their power without striker Fikru. So they changed their strategy and took the game to the penalty and won,” he said. Zico added despite the disappointment, he has spoken to the management and would return to coach Goa for the next two years.
Next Story
