Real's Capello blames referee for defeat against Santander

Fabio Capello claimed that poor refereeing decisions cost his team the three points against Racing Santander in the Spanish Primera Liga clash on Saturday.

كتب : Omar AbdelAziz

الأحد، 15 أبريل 2007 - 14:50
Fabio Capello claimed that poor refereeing decisions cost his team the three points against Racing Santander in the Spanish Primera Liga clash on Saturday.

Argentine defender Ezeqiel Garay converted two penalties in the last 17 minutes to cancel out Raul's first half strike to end Real's eight game unbeaten streak.

However, Capello believes his team deserved the win and was left frustrated by false penalty claims by the referee.

"The referee did not help at all," Capello told the press conference after the game.

"We played a good match and we had our chances to score a second goal, but the players were very upset because they thought neither of the penalties should have been given."

Capello explained his case regarding the two penalty decisions that saw Mahamadou Diarra allegedly bring down Lionel Scaloni for the first and Fabio Cannavaro hauling Nikola Zigic for the second in the dying moments.

"In the first penalty, Diarra touches the ball and the referee can't see it because his view was blocked," he added.

"In the second, a foul is given for an inexistent handball by (Sergio) Ramos, Racing take the free kick three or four meters in advance of where the foul occurred and then comes the penalty, something's not right here."

Real are now two points adrift of leaders Barcelona who are firm favorites to beat Mallorca at the Camp Nou on Sunday, but the Italian tactician remains confident of his side's chances.

"We came to play in a tough pitch but we produced one of the best performances of the year. There are still many matches ahead and we are still confident."