Defender Kaspars Gork?s refused to blame referee Tom Henning Øvrebø for a dubious penalty decision that took the game away from Latvia yesterday.
The controversy took place at the beginning of the second period when former Manchester City striker was adjudged to have been felled in the area.
The decision was taken by referee Tom Henning Øvrebø to hand Greece a controversial spot kick and Gekas’ subsequent strike drew the Greeks level.
Fans of English clubs will better know the official as the man who wouldn’t give Chelsea a penalty against Barcelona in the Champions League – and therefore sparked a foul-mouthed tirade from Didier Drogba to the viewing public.
When asked about the incident Queens Park Rangers defender Gork?s responded in diplomatic fashion.
‘It would be the easiest way to put our problems on the referee,” he said.
‘Actually first of all we need to watch on our performance and not on decisions of referee. We need to watch, for example, our defence which unfortunately was not good in Athens.’
A refreshing stance from a professional footballer and one which many of the so-called top players and managers could learn from.
Latvia can secure a third-placed finish with a win over Moldova in Riga on Wednesday night. While this won’t be enough to earn them a place at the World Cup – it can go a long way to giving them an easier passage for the European Championship Qualifiers, taking place in 2012.
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