Not a penalty

BRUSSELS, JUNE 29. Portuguese defender Abel Xavier said he had not deliberately handled the ball in the incident which led to a winning `golden goal' extra-time penalty for France in their Euro 2000 semifinal on Wednesday.

Austrian referee Guenter Benko gave the penalty for a handball close to the goal-line after linesman Igor Sramka of Slovakia raised his flag to signal an infringement. Zidane struck home to a French win.

The Portuguese players said the ball struck Abel Xavier as he put his arm out to break his fall. ``It was not a penalty. The referee must have had a lot of courage to give a penalty in that way,'' a tearful Abel Xavier said.

``In football when you make a tackle where are you going to put your hand? you cannot play without hands. When the ball is going so fast you must have support.'' Defender Dimas added: ``you can't chop off your arms.''

Nuno Gomes, who was sent off after the penalty for pushing the referee in the Portuguese protests, said he was very angry at the decision and took off his shirt and handed it to the official.

``I thought it was very unfair the way we lost,'' he said. ``I just gave my shirt to him and I said it was a gift for him to take home and remember our country. He didn't want it so I threw it at him but he couldn't catch it. I did it in a kind way. We are all very angry. It wasn't possible to control that anger on the field.'' Midfielder Luis Figo added: ``I am very disappointed. You would always be angry if you have a chance to be in the final and you lose like this''.

``I have never seen a situation like this before when one official signals a corner and another a penalty. It was really strange.''

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Lucky star shining on France: Zidane
Next     : A class act by Rajesh Chaudhary