Queiroz ignored match statistics, which showed Nigeria’s dominance through the encounter, and opted to blame the referees for his loss
By Kehinde Okeowo
Egypt coach, Carlos Queiroz has blamed the video assistant referee [VAR] and the center referee, Bakary Gassama for his side’s 1-0 loss to the Super Eagles during their encounter on Tuesday.
The Super Eagles defeated the seven-time African champions in Tuesday’s Group D opener at the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
And the Portuguese believe his side would have at least earned a draw had the referee given his side a penalty 10 minutes to the end of the game.
The referee paused the game for some time for consultation with VAR on a possible infringement by Nigerian winger Moses Simon inside the penalty box after initially waving it away.
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After the review, the center referee stood by his initial verdict, a decision that did not sit well with the Egyptian players and their coach.
Queiroz after the match insisted it was a clear penalty decision and that he was at a loss as to why VAR did not intervene and correct the initial decision by the referee.
He went on to call the referee’s decision not to award the penalty despite the review by VAR a disaster.
“In the second half, there was a penalty very clear for us that the referee did not whistle, and the VAR did not intervene,” the Portuguese coach said, according to Africa Foot United.
He added, “Maybe at that time the VAR was not working. There was clearly a penalty. It was not our day, it was also not a good day for refereeing.
“Even my grandmother would have blown for this penalty on the fault on our player. It’s a disaster because there are referees from VAR.
“This is unacceptable. Watch the action yourself. It’s amazing that with all these referees, no one indicated the fault.”
