World Cup qual. - Burley blasts 'mystery' decision

Eurosport - Sun, 29 Mar 12:03:00 2009

George Burley hit out at the referee after he chalked off a Gary Caldwell goal during Scotland's 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in Holland.

FOOTBALL 2008 World Cup qual. Scotland George Burley - 0

Headers from Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie had given the home side a comfortable half-time lead at the Amsterdam ArenA.

When Caldwell headed a Ross McCormack corner past Maarten Stekelenburg in the 74th minute, it looked like the Scots had a lifeline but the goal was ruled out by French referee Laurent Duhamel and three minutes later Dirk Kuyt scored from the spot after Christophe Berra fouled Huntelaar in the box.

Burley said: "For the second goal, we had Allan McGregor blocked but it was a good delivery.

"Of course, we had the goal disallowed.

"I've spoken to six people who have looked at and they cannot see why it was disallowed, so that was disappointing.

"It was a clear header and Gary certainly didn't foul.

"Why did he disallow it? That's a mystery to everyone who watched it.

"We worked very hard and conceding the second goal at half-time was not ideal but we gave it everything we could."

Caldwell looked forward to Wednesday's visit of Iceland and the chance to stake a claim for the play-off place as a second-placed side, which looks like being Scotland's best chance of progressing from Group 9 World Cup and ultimately reaching the finals in South Africa next year.

He said: "Wednesday night was always going to be a must-win game so not much has changed in that respect.

"We always believed we were the second best team in the group.

"We knew that Holland were massive favourites to win the group but it's up to us to go and prove that we are the second best."

Despite the Scots' camp complaining at the chalked-off goal, Holland manager Bert van Marwijk - who claimed he was told by his players Stekelenburg was fouled at Caldwell's disallowed header - appeared far from impressed by the visitors' performance.

He said: "We expected Scotland to play defensively and they did.

"I expected they would have tried something else in the second half but they didn't.

"I don't know if Scotland will finish in second place; I'm not interested."

TeamTalk / Eurosport

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  1. I am a H -O- T girl from London,
    someday I found a H­ -O- T­ place for u guys, ____Tallconnect Co M____ , if­ you want­ know more big fri-ends,even l-over, please­ have a try !

    From tallbbw23, on Mon 30 Mar 4:07AM

  2. The Romans, not the English, built (2 walls) Hadrian’s­ and
    Antoine’s. Why? Because they could not beat the­ Picts of Scotland as they were
    quoted as the most­ savage of opponents the Romans ever faced. As the­ Romans had already defeated the English, they then­ spent the next few centuries raping and plundering­ England. Hence, the Italians will always have one over­ you lot...Tony Rogers (point 13), maybe that's­ where you got your class!! lol

    From Dave McBain, on Mon 30 Mar 3:07AM

  3. Humility is something to be proud of, especially when­ our neighbours south of the border make such a mockery­ of themselves by actually believing they can win­ something big. England have the best team in the­ world..(on paper) yet they still bottle it time and­ time and time again. When will you wake up and accept­ that maybe you just arent that good? Its only because­ of your massive self denial that we Scots keep having­ the last laugh. If you had a bit of humilty maybe we­ Scots would actually sympathise occasionally instead of­ supporting your opposition.

    From Tom, on Sun 29 Mar 11:53PM

  4. no fantasy land spain gave england a lesson thatswhy­ they wont win world cup and they certainly wont beat­ brazil mark my words you will lose penalties to italy i­ fear scotland will finish 2nd and be worst total and­ miss play offs

    From john, on Sun 29 Mar 11:19PM

  5. England have NO chance of winning the world cup cause­ they will bottle it as usual.

    From term8n9, on Sun 29 Mar 11:05PM

  6. Their look at Becks what aplayer, most capped guy !!!

    From Billy, on Sun 29 Mar 9:04PM

  7. England will be their anyway, use sheep north of the­ Border can watch us lift the world cup high in the sky­ !!!!

    From Billy, on Sun 29 Mar 9:02PM

  8. rule britannia !!!!

    From Billy, on Sun 29 Mar 9:00PM

  9. Good game last night, what ascore for the 3 lions 4 - 0­ !!!!

    From Billy, on Sun 29 Mar 8:59PM

  10. George Burleys favorite colours this weekend were­ Yellow and Orange. HAHAHAHAHA Better luck next time you­ SWEATIES hahaha

    From stuart, on Sun 29 Mar 8:45PM

  11. how can u call the Scots dumb, we invented everthing, u­ lot would be lost without us........like being in the­ dark, with no telly and nobody 2 phone or take pain­ killers 2 numb out the whingeing pom syndrome...

    From Alex H, on Sun 29 Mar 8:45PM

  12. who were the only scottish to score in amsterdam?
    the­ tartan army in the red light district

    From Stephen, on Sun 29 Mar 8:26PM

  13. The sweaty socks favorite colour this weekend is ORANGE­ HA HA HA.

    From stuart, on Sun 29 Mar 8:02PM

  14. They are just as bad as our lot. Cannot watch them.

    From taff, on Sun 29 Mar 7:44PM

  15. he's an average manager, however nobody cares­ enough to take up the challange. his hearts in it, but­ no head! u dont just become a bad manager, its wee­ mistakes over time. the chances of beating the dutch­ where slim, i would hav just went for it in this game,­ gun ho style totally threw everthing at them and some,­ go down fighting. However we must win on­ wednesday....vital!

    From Alex H, on Sun 29 Mar 6:11PM

  16. george burley has no motivation about hinm , the sack­ will eat him up , CACHING£££££££

    From tomwilson.uk, on Sun 29 Mar 5:30PM

  17. last comment is just daft, have u ever played football?­ if the disallowed goal stands, the nature of the game­ changes, Scotland were out classed, but we had our­ chances 2, but that shocker of a ref aided the Dutch­ class.

    From Alex H, on Sun 29 Mar 4:21PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Worrying about a disallowed goal when defeated 3 - 0 is­ a bit beneath the dignity of Scoatland Mr Burley :-)

    From art_tidesco, on Sun 29 Mar 3:32PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ENGLAND the greatest country in the world ! Period­ !
    Your all jealous cos we've got class ... ha ha ha­ ha ha ha ha ha

    From tonyrogers1313, on Sun 29 Mar 3:08PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    sirstevejones16 ... Ha Ha Ha ... Jealous @#$% ... What­ SCUM country are you in ?
    HOPE YOU DIE VERY SOON ! bet­ you get shot ! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

    From tonyrogers1313, on Sun 29 Mar 2:58PM
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