Barcelona captain Raphinha has apologized for his red card after Brazil’s 3-2 international friendly defeat to Japan on Saturday.
Raphinha and manager Carlo Ancelotti were both shown red cards for their protests in the wake of Japan’s late winner in the match.
The Barcelona star spoke to the media straight after full-time and had plenty to say about the match.
“First of all, I want to take this opportunity to apologize for my behavior and for being sent off. Sometimes it’s difficult to control myself.
After, in my opinion, so many mistakes by the referee during the game. I tried to talk to him several times. I never felt he was open to discussion. I believe he made mistakes at many points in the game,” he said, per Globo.
“It’s unacceptable. In my opinion, their first goal involved a foul where the player handled the ball. There was the penalty in the first half. In my opinion, it was a penalty, but he said it wasn’t. Then, in their third goal, a very clear foul on João. With the help of VAR, he managed to validate the goal. It’s very difficult not to talk about the refereeing.
“We tried from the beginning of the game, not taking away from the things we need to improve. We are growing, finding ourselves again after the World Cup. 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, it gets complicated. I’m not here to deflect blame, we have to improve in many things. And we will improve. But we can’t let the refereeing today go unpunished.”
It’s a disappointing result for Ancelotti and Brazil. They go on to play Singapore in their second friendly of the international break, although Raphinha will not be involved as he will serve a suspension following his red card.
