‘It must not look like this at this level’ – Sweden stars blast referee after win over Ireland

Aside from not carding a two-footed lunge from Lily Agg in the opening minutes, the referee, who booked five Swedes compared to one Irish player, missed a blatant first-half penalty when Jess Ziu hacked down Filippa Angeldal during Sweden’s 3-0 win at the Aviva Stadium.

“For me, it is clear,” said Man City star Angeldal . “I’m first on the ball and feel her kicking me from behind. The referee misses it in some way.

“I’m surprised because I really feel the hit she gets on me. Penalties are usually missed, but it’s nice that it wasn’t decisive today.

“It was difficult to communicate with her. She didn’t even want to talk to “Kosse” (Kosovare Asllani), who is the team captain. We get five really cheap cards. What to say? It’s just nice that it wasn’t decisive.”

Kulcsar is an experienced FIFA referee but this is not the first time she has courted controversy.

New Zealand fans still grumble about a controversial World Cup handball against China 2015 as do Spanish fans, undone four years later in the quarter-finals after she awarded a winning penalty to the USA.

“It must not look like this at this level,” Asllani told Swedis outfit Aftonbladet.ie

“I don’t want to stand here after every match and criticize the referees, but that’s too low a level.

“In terms of communication, it is 0. As a team captain you have to be able to talk to the referee but you were just shooed away.

“Women’s football is moving forward all the time, but the referees must also develop. We don’t do what we say because it’s fun to criticize, it’s about developing women’s football.”

Even the normally mild-mannered manager Peter Gerhardsson was prompted to comment, referring to what he deemed numerous incorrectly awarded set-pieces.

One incident involving Ziu was clearly a Swedish corner in the second-half; the indiscreetly chuckling Dubliner perhaps indicating that she, too, was sheepishly aware of the officials’ error.

”I never try to fake a throw-in or a corner,” he said.

“But when I see that it’s our corner or throw-in and the assistant and the fourth official see the same thing and even admit to me that they saw they saw it, you wonder why they don’t tell and does this referee help?”