Nations League: Santos unimpressed by referee's performance during Portugal's defeat to Switzerland
Portugal suffered a slender 0-1 defeat to Switzerland in its UEFA Nations League tie on Sunday. Meanwhile, Fernando Santos questioned the performance of the referee after the defeat.
FollowIt was tough luck for Portugal in its recent 2022-23 UEFA Nations League (UNL) clash against Switzerland. Played at the Stade de Genève on Sunday night, the hosts romped to a 1-0 win, thanks to the sole strike from Haris Seferovic in the game's opening minute, as Silvan Widmer came up with the defining assist. With this loss, the visitors have gone down to the second spot, having a couple of wins, along with a draw and loss each, while the Nati stays at the bottom with a victory and three defeats. In the meantime, the Navigators' head coach Fernando Santos lashed out at the referee for his performance following the loss.
It all happened after referee Fran Jovic gave the Swiss a penalty for a handball against Nuno Mendes, only for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to overrule it. Nico Elvedi's difficult challenge on Andre Silva required medical treatment, irking Santos, as Jovic was surrounded at half-time, while Bruno Fernandes confronted the Swiss bench in the succeeding half. Santos also felt that the Swiss wasted time en route to their win.
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Santos noted after the defeat, "I'm not going to criticise, but when a penalty is awarded, that doesn't happen just like that when there's a clear foul in midfield. Then, just look at the number of fouls and time lost. The fourth official knows very well what happened in the game."
As for the performance by his boys, which lacked sensational striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Santos examined, "At half-time, I was saying that we have to have the ball and play differently and push them back. We started very well. We wanted to put the ball very quickly on [Goncalo] Guedes in the first few minutes. We knew opportunities would arise, and many have arisen."
