Socceroos aggrieved by referee’s ‘stinker’ in World Cup defeat to USA
Referee Felix Zwayer has come in for criticism from the Socceroos, who labelled the German’s performance a “stinker” after what they believed was a series of injustices in their 2-0 defeat to the USA in the World Cup match in Seattle.
The co-hosts’ second goal was awarded by the video referee, and it was contentious given what appeared to be an offside player in the proximity of goalkeeper Patrick Beach when he tried to recover from a misdirected shot.
The main grievance, however, was what they believed to be a string of non-calls during the match. Connor Metcalfe appeared to be tripped in the area and forward Nestory Irankunda was taken out off the ball by American defender Chris Richards. Several more players’ pleas to the referee during the match were ignored.
Irankunda said the team was unlucky. “If you look at how the referee was today, [there’s] not much I can say about that,” he said. Asked to elaborate, the forward’s criticism was more pointed.
“The ref was having a stinker today, but I mean it is what it is,” he said. “He was giving every call to the USA. I get it, but at the same time, we know there’s two teams on the field, so you have to give the calls both ways and he didn’t do that today.”
Coach Tony Popovic said the contest was not overly physical, but the whistle was inconsistent. “I thought the referee gave too many fouls away, in all honesty, he said. “Sometimes you didn’t have to do much to win a foul, and on the other occasions you you had to do a fair bit to get one.”
Despite the result, the Socceroos believe they can quickly correct their listing World Cup campaign.
Australia found themselves down 2-0 at half-time after being outplayed in the opening half. The result at the 68,000-capacity Seattle Stadium secured a berth in the knockout rounds for the US, who later found out they had won Group D following Paraguay’s victory over Turkey. But it leaves Australia’s campaign on the bubble ahead of their final group-stage match against the South Americans in San Francisco next week; a win or draw will be enough for them to qualify in second place, but it remains to be seen whether a defeat will end their hopes of progressing to the last 32.
Captain Harry Souttar was downcast after the match and admitted it was a frustrating afternoon, but said the Socceroos know they can still progress to the last 32. “[The reaction] has got to be a positive one tomorrow,” he said. “We can look back at the game properly and take bits that we did well and that we didn’t do well – there’s a lot of them.”
