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Monday November 13, 2023 | 8:19 p.m. WIB

Wijayanti Putri / RZL

Solo, Beritasatu.com – Mali U-17 national team (national team) coach Soumaila Coulibaly assessed the referee who officiated his team’s match against Spain in the follow-up match of the preliminary round of Group B of the Cup of the 2023 U-17 World Cup at Manahan Stadium. , Solo City, Central Java, Monday (11/13/2023), tends to side with the opponent.

“I found the referee a bit biased in the first half, but it wasn’t a problem,” he said.

Even though they lost and were disadvantaged by referee Bryan Lopez’s decision, Soumaila Coulibaly said her team played well and will maintain it in the next match against Canada on Thursday (16/11/ 2023).

“We played well on the field. “I am happy with our young players because they played well,” he said.

One of the things that makes him think the referee is more favorable to Spain is the use of video assistant referee (VAR) technology, which is more widely used for La Roja, while Mali doesn’t get it at all.

“Today we didn’t have VAR, yesterday in the match against Uzbekistan we had two VARs but not today. “The referee spoke more for Spain,” he said. he declares.

We know that the first goal scored by Malian player Ange Martial Tia in the 31st minute was refused by the referee after seeing the VAR recording. The goal was disallowed because the Malian player had committed a foul on the Spanish player Juan Hernández.

Furthermore, eight minutes later, Malian Mamadou Doumbia received a red card and had to leave the field.

“We had led twice, but the referee ruled it out. “After that we got a red card, what should I say,” he said.

Asked about his top scorer, Mamadou Doumbia, who received a red card during this match, the Mali coach recognized that the player wearing number 17 was an important player. But on the other hand, the Eagles have 20 other players who can play just as well.

“We are 21 players, Mamadou is an important player for us, but we just have to play like before. “Today’s match is over, we have to focus on the next match to win against Canada and take the three points,” he said.

Mali will face Canada in the final match of Group B. The match will take place at Gelora Bung Tomo, Surabaya, East Java, Thursday (16/11/2023).