World Cup: Former Super Eagles Star Slams Referee for Ronaldo’s Penalty Against Ghana

World Cup: Former Super Eagles Star Slams Referee for Ronaldo’s Penalty Against Ghana

Ibitoye Shittu
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:18 PM
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  • Ghana on Thursday night, 24 November, lost their first game at the 2022 World Cup against Portugal
  • Former Nigerian striker Julius Aghahowa who watched the game claimed that Ronaldo's penalty was not genuine
  • The 40-year-old added that the penalty American referee Ismail Elfath awarded demoralized Ghana players

Former Super Eagles striker Julius Aghahowa has expressed anger over the penalty given to Portugal which gave them their first goal in the World Cup game against Ghana.

Many Ghanain fans are still battling to come to terms with why referee Ismail Elfath failed to consult the VAR before awarding Portugal a penalty against Ghana.

They felt it was a dubious one as Cristiano Ronaldo stepped forward to convert the penalty given Portugal the lead.

Julius Agbahowa, Portugal, Ghana, penalty, Ronaldo, referee Elfath
World Cup: Former Super Eagles star slams referee for Ronaldo's penalty against Ghana. Photo by Kyodo News
Source: Getty Images

Ghana fought back through Andre Ayew, but they went on to lose the game 3-2 with Ronaldo now the first player to score in five World Cups.

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According to the report on GOAL, Aghahowa claimed that the penalty referee Elfath gave Portugal weakened Ghana's players in the encounter.

Statement made by Julius Aghahowa

"The penalty is contestable. My problem with that is the ref didn't even go to check.
"The penalty demoralized Ghana. The referee should have gone to the monitor to confirm it was indeed a penalty. He didn't and that affected the Ghanaians.''

Ghana will face South Korea next Monday in their second game which is a must win tie if they want to remain in Qatar.

Rigobert Song praises Embolo

Earlier, Sports Brief had reported how Rigobert Song who is the coach of the Cameroonian national team congratulated Monaco forward Breel Embolo for the goal he scored for Switzerland against Cameroon at the World Cup.

The 25-year-old netted the only goal giving Switzerland the win over Cameroon in their group G opener at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Interestingly, Embolo refused to celebrate after scoring out respect for his country of birth. He was born in Yaounde before his parents moved to France and finally settled down in Switzerland.

After the World Cup game, Song was spotted speaking with Embolo, and the Cameroon coach has now revealed details of their discussion.

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Ibitoye Shittu
Editor- Local Desk