Mexico Coach Blames The Referee For His Team's Loss, Wants Him Kicked Out Of The World Cup
The Dutch won after Arjen Robben was awarded a penalty in the 94th minute. It looked like a clear dive, even though Mexican defender stepped on Robben's foot.
Herrera says the referee single-handedly eliminated his team from the World Cup and he should be kicked out of the tournament.
From the Guardian's Sid Lowe:
"The penalty was invented. I hope the referees' committee looks at the decision and that he, like us, goes home. We're leaving [the World Cup] because of the fact that the decision to stay was not in our hands. If they have a conscience, he should not take charge of another game at the World Cup."
"In three of the four games, the refereeing has been disastrous,. In four games, three of them had tendentious refereeing. Against Cameroon we were denied two goals, there were two penalties in the same move [denied] against Croatia, and today he conditioned the game all the way through with favours [to Holland] and then he invented a penalty that was so big."
As brutal as the penalty was, Mexico ultimately has itself to blame.
El Tri took a 1-0 lead three minutes into the second half, and then played far too conservatively for the final 20 minutes or so. If it wasn't for the brilliance of Meme Ochoa in net, the Dutch would have equalized earlier. When Wesley Sneijder scored to make it 1-1 in the 88th minute, it felt like it had been coming for a while.
Mexico held a 1-0 lead in the 88th minute and managed to lose before extra time. While the call at the end was borderline, the referee isn't the reason they're going home.