Mexico coach Miguel Herrera was fuming.
Known for his flamboyant celebrations during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Herrera played the blame game after his team’s disappointing early exit. Mexico’s Rafa Marquez got called for a questionable trip on Arjen Robben, setting up a penalty kick goal in the 94th minute by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar which gave The Netherlands a 2-1 comeback victory in Sunday’s Round of 16 game in Brazil.
Herrera, though, thinks the call was a bunch of hooey.
“If the referee is fair, their second goal would not exist and Robben would be ejected,” Herrera said.
Herrera went on to say, “When a ref makes a call like that, we’re going to go home. I hope the ref committee sees and he goes home like us.”
Mexico’s coach has every reason to be upset. No one wants to see a scintillating soccer game with “instant classic” potential be decided on a questionable call. It’s safe to say that anyone watching that game not wearing orange was probably at least slightly upset to see the game end on a penalty kick.
That said, the harsh words by Herrera won’t change anything, as Mexico suffered its sixth consecutive World Cup defeat in the Round of 16.
