Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou refused to weigh in on the refereeing drama of the World Cup’s opening game, despite it possibly becoming a big factor in Australia’s clash with Chile on Friday.
The showpiece kicked-off in controversy on Thursday after Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura awarded a penalty that helped hosts Brazil start their campaign with a 3-1 win over Croatia in Sao Paulo.
Nishimura ruled Fred had been brought down in the box however, replays showed there had been minimal contact.
In the wake of the controversy there are suggestions referees may be gun shy when it comes to making similar decisions during the rest of the tournament.
Socceroos striker Tim Cahill said on Wednesday he was expecting there to be shirt-pulling and nudging by the Chileans in the box during their crucial first clash in Cuiaba on Friday (Saturday AEST).
But Postecoglou wouldn’t get drawn into the matter.
“All the teams have had a visit from the officials and they’ve told every country what they’re looking for, so we’re aware of what they’re looking at,” Postecoglou said.
“The referees have got their job, we’ve got ours so we won’t sit there and try and preempt what may or may not happen.
“We’ve been told the things that are going to be highlighted at this World Cup and we’ll deal with it accordingly.”
While the Chileans may look to nullify Cahill’s aerial advantage Postecoglou said he wasn’t Australia’s only threat.
“We’ve got somebody there who’s very threatening and Timmy’s looked very sharp. But I don’t think that’s our only avenue for goal,” Postecoglou said.
“We’re working on a few things and we certainly believe we can be a threat in other areas.
“But there’s no doubt they’re going to have to pay attention to Timmy because if he does get half a chance in the box, particularly in the air, he can head it in from any position. So we’ll use that.”
Postecoglou emphasised there were no concerns over Mark Bresciano’s fitness and indicated the veteran midfielder would start.
The 34-year-old has been battling a back complaint in the lead up to the Socceroos’ campaign opener.
“Absolutely (he’s right to start),” Postecoglou said.
“He’s trained really well and more important he’s recovered from training really well. So he’s ready to go.
“I think he’s really looking forward to it, he’s got that steely look in his eye and he’s ready to play.
“There’s no doubt in my mind physically now he’s right to go.”
Meanwhile, FIFA has ordered the Socceroos to change their strip for their opening match.
They were due to wear the traditional gold shirt and green shorts. But they will now play in gold shorts, with the governing body ruling the green would have clashed with Chile’s blue shorts.
BtoThePower3
Guest
Right before Neymar's goal to level, he has got a golden chance to dive at the right side of the small box near the base line. However, he did his best to maintain the balance and to send the ball back across the mouth of the goal. In that minute of time, I really appreciated Neymar and his team's sportsmanship. However, there was such a disrepute of diving later.
BtoThePower3
Guest
This kind of controversy happens occasionally. So, this seemingly possible referee's error causes me to think of the Blatter's proposal of giving the managers 2 challenges (appeals) per match reported very recently. If the manager of Croatia challenged the referee's decision this morning, it will be very embarrassing to the referee and the 5th referee (supposed to be the video referee). Apart from the embarrassment of overturning the main referee's decision, the 5th referee suffers embarrassment and criticism if he upholds the main referee's decision. Should he uphold, the public may accuse him of deliberately judge in the favour of the alleged diving (simulating) player's team. And the 5th referee has no excuse of needing to make a quick judgement like many main referees need to do now. So, it is better to start video-refereeing first, before considering the possibility of giving the managers two challenges per match. With video-refereeing only, the main referee decide's on whether he needs to call for a video replay to help his decision. If he is confident enough in making the judgement on any case and situation, he need not be calling for the 5th referee (video referee) to help.