ALLY MCCOIST was fuming over the penalty decision that allowed Bruno Fernandes to secure Portugal’s victory against Uruguay.
The incident occurred during the final seconds of Portugal’s 2-0 World Cup win over Uruguay as VAR intervened for a penalty check.
Fernandes carried the ball into the box and sent Jose Maria Gimenez tumbling backwards as he nutmegged the defender.
The Uruguayan unintentionally handled the ball as he fell to the ground.
The referee waved play on, despite the protests of Fernandes, before VAR got in his ear to advise him to check the incident.
Iranian Alireza Faghani headed over to the pitchside monitor and duly awarded the spot-kick, much to the anger of Luis Suarez and his Uruguayan teammates.
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Former Premier League ref Mark Halsey exclusively told SunSport he thought the decision was ‘shocking’.
And ITV commentator Ally McCoist, the much-loved Rangers and Scotland legend, was equally as damning after he heard ex-referee Peter Walton’s attempted justification.
Walton said: “It’s unfortunate to have that penalty kick go against him.
“It’s hit him as he’s falling back but the ball has struck his arm. The referee in his instructive view that striking the arm is the deliberate action.
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“I think it’s very harsh. The law did say if you’re putting your arm to break the fall, it was a deliberate act but that was removed from the law a year or so ago, it’s down to the subjective call of the referee.
“It’s clearly hit his arm, stopped the progress of the ball and that’s what the VAR has advised.”
But McCoist fumed: “He’s absolutely no idea that it’s going to hit his hand.
“He’s not trying to get an advantage, he’s not trying to gain an advantage, it is a completely and utterly accidental handball.”
The controversy failed to have any impact on Fernandes as he hopped, skipped and jumped before rifling home from the spot.
That was his second of the game, even though Cristiano Ronaldo is trying to claim he got a touch on his first, and sealed his country’s place in the last-16 with a game to spare.
Meanwhile, Suarez and his teammates will now have to face a Ghana side intent on revenge in their final group game.
Ghana sit second on four points from two games after the win over South Korea earlier.
But Uruguay, who have one from their two outings so far, can overtake them with a win.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
