Referee Simone Sozza was the bitten dog of the Ajax players who lost 3-4 to Marseille, which eliminated Amsterdam from the Europa League. Coach John van ‘t Schip saw “cheap penalties”. Defender Jorrel Hato believed that Steven Berghuis did not even touch his opponent during the tackle for which he received a red card.
Although Van t Schip was disappointed, he also pointed out all the good things he saw at Ajax. But the 36-year-old Italian had nothing good to say about the referee’s behaviour.
“A referee acting at the highest level for the first time and probably under a lot of stress. This was to our detriment,” said the Ajax coach.
“We fought as a team”
Van ‘t Schip: “We fought as a team and showed some good things. We scored a goal, it could have been more. It’s a shame then that you conceded a questionable penalty in the last few minutes. “We definitely didn’t do this, I think I deserved it.”
“I can’t say we deserved to win. But I think we played well with 10 and made Marseille’s job very difficult.”
Hato, who was the “perpetrator” of Marseille’s first penalty, then took aim at the Italian referee: “In our opinion, and I think in everyone’s opinion, he blew the whistle against us.”
“I can give yellow”
The newly crowned international spoke not only about the two easily awarded penalties, but also about Berghuis’ red card. Ajax had to continue with 10 men after more than an hour due to their hard fight with the ball and their opponent on the touchline.
“You can give yellow, but red is overkill,” thought Hato. “I just watched it again and he went in hard but he hit the ball. “He didn’t hit the opponent, so you can’t give a red.”
Despite the defeat, Ajax still have a chance to hibernate in the Conference League, albeit at a lower level. It didn’t seem to do much for the disappointed Hato. “We play to win every match,” he added.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
