O'Neill furious at penalty decision
Wednesday, 19 September 2001 08:11Martin O'Neill launched a furious attack on the referee of last night's Juventus v Celtic match, after his side were denied a draw by a dubious penalty decision. The Celtic manager called the decision "extraordinary" and added: "The important thing is we leave here feeling robbed."
O'Neill felt that referee Helmut Krug will regret awarding Juventus a penalty in the dying minutes of the encounter. At that point Celtic had staged a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down, and with Juve down to ten men, were looking like they could sneak a win.
But just as Celtic were threatening to pull off this improbable victory, Krug gave a spot-kick against Bhoys defender Joos Valgaeren. O'Neill's rage at the officials was uncontrollable and, before the penalty was taken, Krug ordered him away from the touchline.
O'Neill's players joined in his verbal attack on referee Krug. Neil Lennon said: "From where I was standing, it was an innocuous ball into the box and going out of play. The guy has just taken a dive and the referee has been suckered really."
Even Juve boss Marcello Lippi acknowledged that his team had been fortunate. The Italian boss said: "Yes, we were quite lucky. I have never seen a penalty yet that's been awarded without the players of the other team disputing the decision."
O'Neill's outburst could land him in trouble with UEFA, particularly given Krug's decision to send the Norther Irishman away from the dug-out.
Filed by John Raftery.
