Furious Kewell's 'cheating' claim over 'disgrace'
Socceroos great Harry Kewell accused an official of "cheating" in a mega outburst as a controversy cruelled the team he coaches.
Socceroos legend Harry Kewell accused an official of "cheating" in a mega outburst as an extraordinary substitution incident cruelled the team he coaches.
During a break in play during a clash between Kewell's Yokohama F. Marinos and the Nagoya Grampus in Japan, the former national superstar was in the process of making two substitutions when the game resumed with his team one man down.
Kewell's worst fear came to life as the opposition capitalised on the scoreboard, scoring a goal when Tsukasa Morishima pounced on a long ball sent sailing over Yokohama's defence.
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Kewell erupted at a referee near his team's bench.
"You're a cheat! You're cheating! This is a disgrace!" Kewell fumed.
Despite casting a spotlight on an official's integrity in his touchline outburst, Kewell avoided receiving a red card.
The controversial goal levelled the scoreline in the 77th minute and Kewell's side lost the game 2-1.
One of Nagoya's substitutes, Ryosuke Yamanaka, scored the go-ahead goal off a stoppage-time free kick.
"In life you control what you can control, and we can only control up to about 80 per cent," Kewell said post-match.
"Other stuff you can't control is the weather and also human error.
"Unfortunately we suffered today from human error."