Australia coach Bert van Marwijk and his players have taken aim at the officials and the use of technology after their heart-breaking 2-1 loss to France.
A penalty given to France by the VAR and a deflected own goal from Paul Pogba saw off the Socceroos in Kazan. van Marwijk believes referee Andres Cunha got the decision to check with the VAR, after Josh Risdon brought down Antoine Griezmann, wrong.
“I hope that maybe one time there’ll be a referee that’s very honest,” van Marwijk said post-match.
“In that moment, going to the screen, I saw him standing there, the body language showed he didn’t know, and then he had to make a decision between France or Australia. I got a lot of reactions. It’s very difficult for a referee with 50,000 people behind him and he’s doubtful.
“I think he was standing very close to the moment. He directly said ‘no penalty’ and ‘go on’. For me he’s also a human being, so everyone makes mistakes.”
Australian goalkeeper Mat Ryan also felt his team was unlucky to claim a point from the game.
“Speaking to Josh afterwards, he said he touched the ball and I don’t think he’s a liar,” he said.
“And the replays I have seen didn’t look conclusive. Technology was meant to eradicate clear-cut errors but there’s still a grey area. What’s conclusive and what’s not? I’m looking for a better explanation but I don’t want to take anything away from the game and that beautiful game that it is and what we have done today.
“We gave it everything we had and it’s hard to digest that we didn’t take something from it. You look at the strike-force they possess, nearly every one of their players is playing at one of the biggest clubs in the world. But our defence limited their opportunities to pretty much nothing.
“It took a penalty and a deflected goal to beat us. There were a couple of dangerous moments and set pieces and maybe one shot from distance and that was pretty much it. Our defence was phenomenal.”
Socceroo striker Tomi Juric described the two goals Australia conceded as controversial and unlucky.
“There were two controversial decisions,” he said.
“The penalty - you can judge for yourself - some might say yes, some might say no. How much luck do you need to grab a goal like they did for the second one? For me, I prefer the natural way of football. It just gives the game the natural flow, the momentum, the atmosphere. I'm not a big fan of the VAR, but it is what it is."
