Portugal coach Paulo Bento could be in trouble with FIFA after accusing Serbian referee Milorad Mazic of bias in their 4-0 defeat to Germany.
Mazic sent off Portugal defender Pepe eight minutes before halftime as he clawed Thomas Muller in the face before moving his head into the Germany forward as he sat on the turf.
The official also awarded a penalty to Germany following Fabio Coentrao’s tug on Mario Gotze but turned down Portuguese appeals for a spot-kick in the second half.
Bento said: “There were two occasions when the referee showed bias, first with the penalty and then with the sending off.
“I am not saying it was only the referee’s fault. We also made mistakes but the circumstances of what happened in the first half made the rest of the game difficult for us.”
On the Pepe sending off, which sees him suspended for their next match against the USA, Bento claimed the Real Madrid defender’s reputation preceded him.
It was Portugal’s sixth red card in their last 15 World Cup matches, dating back to 2002.
Bento added: “The sending-off was forced on the player. I don’t know if it was because of Pepe’s reputation. It depends what sort of a reputation you think Pepe has.
“As of now, it is an even greater one for unreliability than he had before.”
Bento was also terse when asked about Cristiano Ronaldo’s condition, both physically and mentally, after the match.
“From a physical perspective, we can only say that he’s doing well,” said Bento after Ronaldo came into the Salvador game on the back of knee and thigh injuries.
Portugal have injury concerns ahead of their crucial next match against the USA in Manaus on Sunday with striker Hugo Almeida and defender Coentrao both having suffered leg injuries in the defeat to Germany.
