Kovac slams 'shameful' refereeing in Brazil defeat

The Croatia boss was furious at the performance of
referee Yuichi Nishimura, despairing at some the
decisions that the official made in favour of the
Selecao in the 3-1 loss
Croatia boss Niko Kovac expressed his dismay at the
refereeing decisions in his side's World Cup Group A loss to
Brazil, suggesting that his team were not treated fairly.
The Selecao benefited from a penalty in the 71st minute
after a foul on Fred and also saw their opponents denied an
equaliser when Ivica Olic was judged to have fouled Julio
Cesar with the score at 2-1.
The Croatia coach was incensed by what he saw as
unbalanced officiating, declaring that Japanese referee
Yuichi Nishimura had interpreted the match as if it were a
non-contact sport.
"If that was penalty then we should play basketball, not
football!" he fumed to HTV.
"It was a shame! The referee had different set of rules for
us and different for Brazil. Shameful refereeing for [the]
World Cup!
"I am proud of my players," he added, however. "That is how
you play for your country."
Croatia still have games against Cameroon on June 18 and
Mexico on June 23 and Kovac remains confident of
progressing from the group.
"With the way we played, this team has to have a place in
round of 16," he continued. "I am very optimistic ahead of
the Cameroon and Mexico games."