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WORLD CUP: Keshi blasts referee after Nigeria exit




The Super Eagles coach feels the official played a major role in his side's World Cup elimination at the hands of France


Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has hit out at referee Mark Geiger in the wake of his side's 2-0 World Cup round-of-16 loss against France at Estadio Mane Garrincha on Monday.

The official failed to spot an alleged elbow from Olivier Giroud against John Obi Mikel, while he opted to show Blaise Matuidi a yellow card rather than a red card after a reckless tackle on Ogenyi Onazi in midfield, after the Lazio man had already sustained a knock following a collision with Paul Pogba.

Emmanuel Emenike also saw a goal disallowed for offside during the first half when replays apeeared to show he was level with Patrice Evra, leaving Keshi less than impressed with the officials.

"The referee made a lot of mistakes and that is questionable. I am not happy with it," the 52-year-old fumed at the post-match press conference.

"He was not good. He is a human being, but it was not good. He decides what's happening on the pitch.

"Onazi was tackled recklessly twice. He will be out for weeks. But the referee didn't do anything.

"This is the first time ever I talk about a referee like this, but he was bad.

"I wasn't sure [Emenike]'s disallowed goal was offside and would love to know why the referee cancelled it.

"It's painful to lose like this. I don't think we deserved to lose like this. But that's football."

As a parting message, Keshi thanked the Brasilia contingent for their support against les Bleus and suggested that the Super Eagles felt almost like the host nation at times during the tournament.

"I cannot ask for a better support than what we got today from the Brazilians. They were wonderful and were always behind us. It's almost as if we were a Brazilian team. I thank them for everything."
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4 comments

  1. That was a bad and biased referee. It has always been like that with white referees when it comes to a match between whites and blacks in a crucial match like this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was a bad and biased refereeing. It has always been like this when it comes to a match between whites and blacks in a crucial match like this. If the referee is a white man, he must

    ReplyDelete
  3. The referee had an agenda because the elbowing of Mikel was in his front and he did nothing. Maybe Mikel too should have gone down for the import to stick. The most painful was the rather wicked tackle on Onazi as his exit made our midfield vulnerable with the likes of Mikel who had a bad game. Evra commited a penalty when he wrapped his hand over Osaze preventing him from jumping during a corner kick but Osaze just laughed it off. That was unprofessional of him as a penalty at that time that we were on fire could have helped us to beat them
    Well its a game and we should forge ahead. Next time our coaches will understand the importance of having a good bench. All our players warm the benches in their clubs and bench became our undoing during the tournament
    Joe

    ReplyDelete
  4. Refree like Howard should be used for games involving the African team. He is known to be a fair Referee in all situation

    ReplyDelete

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