The coach pointed out mistakes and even accused the referee of turning off the microphone when speaking to the players
Amid criticism from Palmeiras after the defeat to , he avoided attacking the performance of (Fifa-GO) in the duel for the Brazilian Championship. Despite saying that he would avoid talking about the refereeing, the Palmeiras coach pointed out mistakes and even accused the referee of turning off the microphone when talking to the players. “Specifically, I’m not going to talk about the referee. The moves are there, everyone saw it”, began Abel Ferreira, in his press conference at Maracanã, which lasted around ten minutes. “In terms of the game, we started very well. On the other side, a team with excellent players and very well trained. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter the game earlier in the second half. We had here and there one situation or another in terms of passing efficiency that hurt us.”
Abel, however, briefly criticized Wilton Sampaio. “Against him, things haven’t worked out very well,” he said. Like Gustavo Gómez, the coach accused the referee of turning off the microphone and being ‘disrespectful’ towards the Palmeiras players after the match. “He’s already sent me off four or five times. The way he spoke to my players after the game… Anyway.”
The São Paulo team, who scored with Vitor Roque and Gustavo Gómez, complained about Wilton Pereira Sampaio’s refereeing. The Alviverde team complained about a penalty not being awarded in the first half and asked for an irregularity in the move that led to the penalty for the Cariocas. Full-back Piquerez was sent off after the final whistle for showing outrage at the referee
“With the penalty, Bruno Fuchs could avoid (the foul), but we have to see what happened before. If it was basketball, it was a lack of attack. Pedro gives a push and takes advantage. And there was still a foul on Vitor Roque before. But the referee is the one who decides”, pointed out Abel. “And Flamengo is an excellent team, with an excellent coach. It doesn’t need other things. Flamengo is good enough to share the game against any team in Brazil.”
The Palmeiras coach has also turned to press coverage since arriving in Brazil – especially on issues related to arbitration and his opinions. “I’m not going to talk, I already said I’m not going to talk. I’ve said enough. When I was sent off, I got yellow cards, no one talked about the referees. I’ve been here for five years and what you journalists did was say that the Palmeiras coach was boring, he didn’t defend the refereeing. That’s not my job.”
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Published by Fernando Dias
