All Whites frustrated by ‘harsh’ red card
A “harsh” red card for captain Liberato Cacace and a penalty-shootout defeat took the gloss off the All Whites’ otherwise encouraging performance against world No 41 Tunisia yesterday.
Cacace was sent off after the final whistle blew with the score 0-0, when he was shown a second yellow card by referee Ahmed Ghandour in bizarre circumstances following a clash with Tunisian forward Elias Achouri.
Achouri had just been shown a second yellow and a red himself, seemingly for dissent, then was plainly the aggressor as he got up in the grill of the New Zealand left back, who had offered a few parting words.
“I think it’s harsh,” All Whites coach Darren Bazeley said afterwards. “The referee sent their player off. They were pretty competitive people, and Libby’s said ‘bye bye’ ”.
Cacace’s red card meant he wasn’t available to take a penalty in the shootout used to decide the third-place team in the ACUD International Cup.
Kosta Barbarouses and Alex Rufer both slotted their spot kicks, but a miss by Ben Waine and a save off Elijah Just by substitute goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen meant Tunisia prevailed 4-2 at the end of a match in which they did not register a shot on target inside 90 minutes.
Sapreet Singh had been replaced by the time the shootout unfolded, but he also had a penalty saved, midway through the first half, by Tunisia’s starting goalkeeper, Bechir Ben Said.
Tommy Smith had earlier sent a fierce header at Ben Said from a Callum McCowatt corner, while McCowatt tested the keeper with a shot from distance and Singh went close with a free kick in a first half in which the world No 103 All Whites dominated.
The second half was more scrappy, with Matt Garbett at one stage drawing a foot save from Ben Said. Tunisia weren’t able to test Max Crocombe in the New Zealand goal, but finished the stronger side.