Mourinho: Ref wanted us to lose
Sunday 25 January, 2009
Jose Mourinho accused the referee of systematically trying to trip up Inter against Sampdoria, including six minutes of stoppages.
“You were all so happy that Juve were ahead of us, now we are the only ones who are happy to be three points clear,” smirked the Coach after a 1-0 victory this evening.
Mourinho was sent off for asking the referee if he was 'afraid', referring to the controversy this week over their Coppa Italia win over Roma and Juventus' dubious decisions against Fiorentina.
“Obviously it was a difficult game and we deserved the victory. I like winning this way, with bad luck and players missing and a referee who I prefer not to comment on. If I were to talk about him, then I would have to comment on what happened yesterday and this afternoon in the other games.
“This weekend has been clear and everyone is honest and able to judge what happened. That I am sent off and not allowed to do my work because I told the referee he was scared is odd. Then we had six minutes of stoppages, for what?
“Inter were in difficulty and the only thing that can justify the six minutes of injury time is that we were struggling and Sampdoria needed time to score against us.”
Adriano scored the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time, but Samp threatened a late equaliser with Julio Cesar's save on Dessena.
“It seemed to me that the referee was under pressure and turned against us, as with everything that happened this weekend and the Coppa Italia - which was 10cm offside, not three metres - he was in a tough position.
“I'd prefer not to say what happened between Juventus and Fiorentina. [Philippe] Mexes' goal was clearly offside for Roma. We arrive at this game with a referee who has no experience and for me there was too much pressure on him.
“He went against Inter too many times and when [Dejan] Stankovic got the ball and had a free kick given against him, I came out and asked if he was afraid. I was sent off, that is fine. He proved he wasn't afraid!”
However, Sampdoria were angry with the referee, as they felt Ivan Cordoba brought down Giampaolo Pazzini.
“What does Cordoba do that Pazzini does not? It's 50-50, that cannot be a penalty. Just because one of the big clubs was helped earlier now another has to be penalised to balance it out?
“If that is a penalty, then there are 50 penalties in every match. For the whole 90 minutes the referee went against us, but that was the one time he got it right,” continued an agitated Mourinho.
“In any case, the team was excellent in its mentality, fought hard and in this period when people talked about our 'problems', it was good to see. It was a great response.
“I do love Italian football and have been pleasantly surprised by it, as there are so many strong teams and good tacticians. What I don't like is that professionals are spoken about in a different manner and not everyone is treated the same.
“No team plays at its best all the time, but the only truly negative moment was against Atalanta. In all the others we may have been better or worse, but we were always a team.”
“Playing against a team with three central defenders and two wing-backs who end up as five is very difficult. The only space you find is when [Mirko] Pieri or [Marius] Stankevicius push up.
“The fact I played [Amantino] Mancini, who is not a centre-forward but more creative, was to provoke those wing-backs to come forward.
“Adriano worked very hard and it may not have been the most spectacular game, but we did have it basically under control.”