Mexico blast for Robben

MEXICO coach Miguel Herrera raged at Arjen Robben, the referee and FIFA after Holland’s last-gasp victory took the Dutch into the World Cup quarter-finals.

Herrera claimed Robben committed three dives, including for the decisive penalty, and criticised FIFA for appointing a referee from the same continent – Portugal’s Pedro Proenca – as Holland won 2-1 in Fortaleza thanks to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s stoppage time penalty, after Wesley Sneijder’s 88th minute volley had equalised Giovani Dos Santos’ goal.

Herrera claimed Mexico had been victims of bad refereeing in their group matches against Cameroon and Croatia as well.

He told a news conference: “Out of the four matches here in all of them the refereeing was disastrous.

“Robben did three dives and he should have been cautioned.

You should caution a guy who is trying to cheat, and then if Robben did it again he would be sent off.

“And why did FIFA choose a referee from the same confederation as Holland instead of one from South America, Asia or Africa?

“The doubtful decisions were always against us. We have to say it in capital letters, in three matches we had horrible refereeing. The man with the whistle knocked us.

“I want the referee committee to take a look and that the referee goes home just like us.”

Herrera also blasted organisers for making the teams play in the heat and humidity of a 1pm kick-off in Fortaleza.

He added: “What goes against football is to have to play in these conditions. The players were suffocated by the sun heat and the humidity.”

Holland boss Louis van Gaal admitted he used FIFA’s new official cooling breaks – allowed during certain temperatures or humidity levels – to instruct his players on a change of tactics.

He said: “I moved to a ‘plan B’ and yes I did that in the cooling break but that’s a clever way of benefiting from these breaks.”

Van Gaal, who will become Manchester United manager after the tournament, paid tribute to Huntelaar’s coolness under pressure.

He added: “Everyone knows Klaas Jan Huntelaar takes penalties at Schalke and there had been a foul against Robben, and he asked Huntelaar if he wanted to take it.

“He doesn’t need any encouragement and he’s very cool and did an excellent job.”

The substitution of Robin van Persie 15 minutes from the end was for tactical reasons, and he will be available for the quarter-final against Costa Rica, who last night beat Greece 5-3 in a penalty shoot out. This will be their first World Cup quarterfinal after recovering from a second-half red card, a late Greece leveller and an extratime barrage to progress.