Conning refs is Figo's forte says incensed Van der Sar

  • The Guardian,

Edwin van der Sar angrily accused Portugal, and Luis Figo in particular, of cheating to get Dutch players sent off during their second-round meeting. The Russian referee Valentin Ivanov incensed the Holland camp with some decisions, notably the two involving Figo after an hour.

First, the Portugal captain escaped with a booking despite appearing to headbutt Mark van Bommel. A dismissal at that stage would have reduced the Portuguese to nine men at a time when Holland still had 11 on the pitch. Figo stayed on and his over-the-top reaction to Khalid Boulahrouz catching him in the face as the pair chased a loose ball was followed by the full-back being sent off.

"At the start of the second half, we had a man advantage, created a couple of chances and then Figo does what he does best," said Van der Sar. "The worst part about it is he should not even have been on the pitch. If you headbutt someone, you should get sent off.

"The thing that upsets me is the Portuguese players look up, work out whether their opponent has already got a yellow card or not, then act in a certain way. I know this is the World Cup, but that is not very nice."

Van der Sar is honest enough to admit that players from both sides crossed the line of acceptability. But the 35-year-old believes the referee was culpable of failing to control the game.

"For 15 minutes during the second half the game was nothing more than a series of cards," said Van der Sar. "Portugal managed to slow the game down and there were so many bust-ups and different things going on it worked against us.

"The referee has to take responsibility. He was poor throughout the tournament and when you consider what went on after half-time, to only add six minutes on at the end was a joke. I am 35 now and I have been in the game for a long time but I have never seen anything like that."

Marco van Basten agreed that Portugal's mastery of deception was the reason behind Holland's World Cup exit. "The difference between our team and Portugal was that they were just a little bit more experienced," said the former Milan and Ajax striker. "We saw all of the tricks and time wasting."

Discussing Luiz Felipe Scolari's animated dialogue with him, Van Basten said: "It was so loud, I couldn't hear what he said. Portugal wasted so much time. But if you are going to talk about fair play, you have to watch yourself first."

"If you look at how they edged forward with their tricks and playing for time and theatrics, it played a role," he added. "We controlled the game but we lost the ball and they counter-attacked and we are to blame for the defeat also."

Van Basten is expecting another entertaining clash when Scolari meets England again . "Two years ago they played and it was a very nice game, an emotional game," Van Basten said. "I hope it will be a very special game. The only thing is Portugal will be without some key players because they have a lot of yellow cards. It's a pity for football."

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