Portugal players rage at referee for not awarding penalty

Portugal players were fuming with referee Facundo Tello for not awarding them a penalty in their shock World Cup exit to Morocco.

Towards the end of the first-half in their World Cup quarter-final, Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes went down inside the box, and there were claims for a spot-kick.

However, Tello dismissed the calls from Portugal and let play go on, with the official soon blowing his whistle for half-time with Morocco 1-0 up.

And it sparked a furious response from the Portugal players, who clearly lost their heads at half-time.

After the incident, talkSPORT’s Hugh Woozencroft said: “Portugal are rattled. They are absolutely rattled. The entire team surrounding the referee at half-time.

“Bruno Fernandes wanted a penalty. Pepe wants a foul every time the ball goes into his area. Joao Felix has just kicked the soft covers that protects the cameras.

“Octavio is arguing with a Portugal substitute telling him to keep his head, pushing him away. It’s only half-time, you’re only a goal down!

“Morocco have made it this way and made Portugal lose their cool. I think Portugal thought this would be more straightforward and maybe they underestimated their opponents.”

Nigel Adderley added: “That looked to be a dive to me. Ridiculous.”

Morocco held on to win the game and become the first African side to reach the World Cup semi-finals thanks to Youssef En-Nesyri’s leaping header.

It was akin to Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous header for Juventus, with talkSPORT pundit Dean Ashton in awe of the Moroccan’s monumental jump.

He said: “What a leap this is from En-Nesyri – it’s like he’s jumped on a trampoline!

“Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa comes out and thinks he’s claiming that easily, but En-Nesyri! He’s flying! There’s so much ground beneath his feet, he leaps into the air and he powers it in.

“Costa’s mouth was wide open, he couldn’t believe how high En-Nesyri rose for that header.”

Bruno Fernandes: “It's unacceptable not to have Portuguese referees and to have an Argentine referee in competition, it's strange to say the least.”