December 30, 2004

His side may have ultimately won the battle against Myanmar but Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic was more concerned with the officiating of referee Rungklay Mongkol, launching a furious tirade against the Thai match official after the game.

A seething Avramovic felt that the referee showed far too much leniency for the roughhouse tactics of the physical Myanmar side in the Tiger Cup semi-final first leg encounter & labeled his performance as a ‘disaster’.

The Serbo-Montenegrin said a tournament like the Tiger Cup shouldn’t have this kind of referee. He should not be managing the game. He allowed far too much & did not take action for some of their tackles. Now it is only hoped that we have enough (fit) players to play in the second leg.

Avramovic adding to his earlier outburst was particularly incensed with the referee’s decision not to blow his whistle for an apparent foul on right back Daniel Bennett in injury time. Myanmar were allowed to play on & skipper Soe Myat Min scored his second goal of the match to make the score 4-3 ahead of the return encounter at the National Stadium in Singapore.

Avramovic said their third goal, there was a clear foul on our player right in front of the referee but he allowed play to go on. That goal could be so crucial now because it means we have only a one-goal advantage now for the second leg.

Also he added he tell players to play according to the rules of football but the referee tonight seemed to be playing according to his own rules.

While expecting a physical match, he did not expected to see it go so far & how can the referee expect us to take it.

Avramovic’s dim view of the officiating was echoed by his team captain Aide Iskandar.

The skipper said we knew what to expect of them (Myanmar) because they go in for the man & the ball. We can only hope that the referee would be more firm & take charge of the game. However we were just not helped by the bad referee

We were playing against a tough Myanmar team today and were not helped by the bad referee. However, we showed that we can fight hard as a team.,” he added.

But he was glad the team showed that we can fight hard as a team & now they want to keep going & go to the final.

To that Avramovic praised his players for picking up the victory and showing character and composure in difficult circumstances as he said he must congratulate them on their performance tonight. Every one of them played well. They went for every ball & tackle.