Raphinha blasts refereeing after Brazil defeat: “Unacceptable”

Raphinha made no secret of his anger at the officiating after Brazil lost 3–2 to Japan on Saturday (14) in Singapore. Sent off after Japan’s third goal, the forward apologized for his reaction but called the referee’s performance unacceptable and highlighted decisions that he felt had hurt Brazil during the friendly.

As he left the pitch, the Barcelona player acknowledged that he had lost control after a series of controversial incidents. However, he made it clear that he would not ignore what he considered serious mistakes by the match officials. His comments came amid Brazilian outrage over the decision to allow Japan’s winning goal.

“I want to take this opportunity to apologize for my behavior and for getting sent off, but sometimes it’s hard to keep your emotions in check after what I think were so many mistakes by the referee during the game. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he made mistakes at many points in the match. But, man, it’s unacceptable,” Raphinha told TV Globo.

Raphinha highlights three refereeing errors against Brazil

The main complaint concerned Japan’s third goal, scored in the 90th minute. Brazil appealed for a foul by Minamino on João Gomes in the buildup. The referee waved play on, and Japan went on to score.

The decision prompted an immediate reaction from Brazil’s bench. Carlo Ancelotti ran onto the pitch to protest and was shown a red card. Raphinha, who was among the substitutes, was also sent off after vehemently protesting to the officials.

The forward did not limit his criticism to the decisive incident, however. He also disputed the decision to allow Japan’s first goal, claiming there had been a handball in the buildup, and complained about a penalty Brazil were not awarded in the first half.

“In my opinion, there was a foul for their first goal, when the lad controlled the ball with his hand. In my opinion, there were four, but you can understand it, based on the standard we have in football these days. There was the penalty in the first half, which, in my opinion, was a penalty, where I touched the ball and then lost my balance from contact on my back and ended up falling in the box,” the number 10 said before continuing:

“In my opinion, it was a penalty. And then, for their third goal, there was a clear foul on João, and he let play continue. Then Japan won the ball back, he let play continue and let them score. And even with VAR’s help, he still managed to award the goal. So it’s very difficult, very hard not to talk about the refereeing,” he explained.

Forward acknowledges Brazil’s shortcomings

Despite his anger, Raphinha also assessed Brazil’s performance. The forward felt the team had improved in the second half but admitted that aspects of their collective play needed correcting. In his view, complaints about the officiating must not become an excuse to hide the national team’s problems.

“I think we played a great game, much better in the second half than in the first, but it’s difficult when you’re playing against the referee too. It makes things very complicated. I’m not here to absolve us of blame. As I said, we have a lot to improve on, and we will improve, but we can’t let today’s refereeing go without comment,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.