Abate Slams Under-Fire Belgium Referee

Pierluigi Casiraghi’s men suffered a shock quarter final exit in the competition in Beijing yesterday, losing 3-2 to Belgium.

The game was not without huge controversy though as Belgium’s first goal was wrongly awarded, while Italy had a goal incorrectly disallowed, as well as having two seemingly clear penalties denied.

“Just about everything happened to us, it was incredibly unlucky,” Abate told Tuttosport.

“The referee could not have been more unfair and if we played this game another 10 times, it’s guaranteed we’d never lose it again.”

All in all it was a miserable game for Abate, who came on as a substitute before then having to be withdrawn after picking up a suspected thigh strain.

“I didn’t even play 30 minutes and had no problems before then,” he explained.

“I changed pace, was about to cross the ball and my leg just gave way at the key moment. I felt this sudden stabbing pain. To make matters worse, I gave the ball away and Belgium went on the counter-attack to score their third goal.

“I hoped to arrive home with an Olympic medal, but instead I have a giant bandage on my thigh. My disappointment is double that of everyone else, as we’re out of the Games and I’m injured.”

Argentine referee Hector Baldassi has received massive criticism in the aftermath of the game, with some people even drawing inevitable links to Italy’s exit to South Korea in the 2002 World Cup.

The infamous Ecuadorian Byron Moreno refereed that match, and somewhat amusingly there was a Moreno among the officials yesterday, as the fourth official was a Roberto Moreno from Panama.

Anthony Sormani