Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has called Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio a “referee joke” following England’s 2-1 defeat by France in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday night.
Harry Kane’s missed penalty dominated the headlines after the match, but there was a lot of attention on Sampaio’s refereeing.
Neville said: “He had an absolute nightmare. A joke from a referee. I’m not saying it’s all down to England losing, people will say it’s excuses, but he’s just a bad referee, a bad range.”
Opening goal controversy
The Brazilian referee made several disconcerting calls throughout the ninety minutes, including awarding a free kick to Bukayo Saka in the build-up to Aurelien Tchouameni’s first goal of the night.
Replays suggested French defender Dayot Upamecano appeared to have fouled Saka and failed to win the ball fair.
Minutes later, Upamecano appeared to have fouled Harry Kane, bringing the Tottenham Hotspur striker to the ground just as the latter entered the penalty area. The VAR agreed and did not instruct Sampaio to review the decision.
Kane denies penalty in the first half
Once again, replays suggested England have been tough, as Kane was awkwardly challenged and thrown to the ground.
Neville continued: “It’s a simple decision. Kicks leg away; I’m not sure why that’s not a miss. He nipped at it and kicked it. It should be a free kick. Upamecano has tried to win the ball on three or four occasions where he can’t win the ball, over Saka, over Kane”.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, the television pundit added: “I thought it was horrible. It’s not me blaming the referee for England’s absence, by the way, I just thought it was absolutely awful. I don’t really say that anymore. He used to do it when he played. But now it’s weird.”
“I thought it was a surprise. We were sitting right there in that corner where the penalty was with Harry Kane in the first half. He felt like we were on top of everything.
There were three or four fouls in that part of the field in the first half in which you were thinking: “How has that not happened? It was weird.”
England were awarded a second penalty the night after Theo Hernandez pushed Mason Mount to the ground. Sampaio, however, had missed Mount’s back shove and had earlier decided to take no further action, signaling to play along.
However, VAR intervened and Sampaio overturned his initial decision after watching replays on the pitch side monitor.
Of the incident, Neville said: “Even the penalty that was given to Theo Hernandez was not given on the pitch. Don’t think too much about it. It was a flagrant foul, that.
The full-back thought he had lost his man and was going to score, so he made a double mistake by hitting him from behind. The referee was very bad.”
Photo credit: IMAGO / Pro Shots
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