‘That penalty is a joke’ — Queiroz slams referee decision in Ghana’s loss to Côte d’Ivoire

The second-half penalty gave Côte d’Ivoire a 2-0 lead and made it harder for Ghana to fight back.

“That penalty is a joke. I just saw it on television,” Queiroz said after the match.

“When we are 1-0 down, and we fight for our chances, for our opportunities, somebody should not come in and make that decision.”

The Portuguese coach also questioned why VAR was not available in a competition he considers the biggest on the continent.

“Why don’t we have VAR in an Africa Cup of Nations competition? Which example do we want to give to the world?” he asked. “The Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers are for the biggest competition on the continent, and we don’t have VAR to help the referee make the game fair.”

Queiroz stressed that his criticism was aimed at the officiating and not Côte d’Ivoire, whose players he praised for their performance.

“My comment about the mistake of the referee has nothing to do with Côte d’Ivoire. It has nothing to do with the merit or the quality of the players of Côte d’Ivoire,” he said.

He also said the penalty had a significant impact on the game, arguing that recovering from two goals down was much harder than responding to a one-goal deficit.