Lehmann blasts referee - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Lehmann blasts referee

Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann slammed the performance of Italian referee Roberto Rosetti during Sunday's Euro 2008 final against Spain in Vienna, describing him as "biased".

Germany lost the match 1-0 and although Lehmann concedes Spain were worthy winners of the title, he was far from impressed by the role played by Rosetti.

"What was disappointing in my opinion was the performance of the referee, who didn't really fancy us Germans, and this is the third time I was unlucky with referees in European cup finals," said the former Arsenal goalkeeper.

Two incidents in particular stood out for Lehmann.

The first was when Spain midfielder David Silva looked to head-butt Lukas Podolski but escaped without punishment, and then in the dying minutes when a promising Germany attack was stopped for what Lehmann felt was a non-existent foul.

Lehmann, who tried to speak to Rosetti after the final whistle, said: "He was very arrogant and in my opinion he was biased. He clearly saw a head-butt from a Spanish player towards Lukas Podolski, he didn't book him or give him a red card.

"Just before the end we had a good chance in the penalty area and all of a sudden he gave a foul against us where even the Spanish players were surprised to get a free-kick. It was very disappointing."

The veteran goalkeeper had few complaints about the final result though, admitting Spain were full value for their first European Championship success since 1964.

Luis Aragones' men went into the match having been victorious in the previous 11 matches and unbeaten in 21, and they improved both those runs - and collected the Henri Delaunay trophy - thanks to Fernando Torres' first-half strike.

"The Spanish have deserved to win because they were the team, together with us, who over the last two to three years were the most consistent and they even won every game in this tournament so they deserved to win," said Lehmann."

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