Crespo slams refereeing after derby: “Never seen it so blatant” | OneFootball

As expected, the main topic of the press conference with Hernán Crespo after São Paulo's defeat to Palmeiras in Sunday's (5) classic, at Morumbi, for the Brazilian Championship, was the refereeing of the Santa Catarina native, Ramon Abatti Abel, who harmed Tricolor in at least two moves in the game.

In a highly critical tone, breaking away from his usual serenity when answering questions, even in more, let's say, critical moments, Crespo, spoke straight and did not shy away from attacking what he considered "the biggest scandal experienced in his career".

"Personally, I have never experienced anything as scandalous as today. I am 50 years old, 32 years in football, as a player and coach. I have never seen anything like it, I have never seen anything so obvious. I have the utmost respect for Palmeiras, for the players, for the coach, for the history, the best coach of this Palmeiras cycle and perhaps of history, nothing against Palmeiras. It seemed scandalous to me, I have never seen anything like it," he said.

"We can improve things, yes, as always. We can improve some plays, mark better, yes, I have no doubts, it is part of the job. But what I experienced today was scandalous, I can't believe it. It was so obvious, so big, that I can't believe what happened," he added.

Crespo conditioned the analysis of the match to the refereeing errors which, according to him, prevent any evaluation of São Paulo's sports performance.

"We know the difficulties we have as a team, our virtues and limits. We know the realities of Palmeiras and São Paulo, it can happen, that we could not sustain in some way, but very difficult to analyze what happened, it was all very clear. The match was straight to be, perhaps, something historic. The superiority of the first half was impressive, then we continued in the second," he said.

"It changed, they made some changes, they had quality, their changes entered better, there is the enthusiasm that helps or harms. And this conditions the game. So, yes, we can mark better in some plays, yes, we could finish, yes, also. But very difficult after everything that happened, to calmly analyze this in an interview. Now, ask for an analysis? Am I crazy or did we watch the same match? Otherwise it seems like I'm crazy. At such a high level, where small errors…. But we are talking about huge ones, which conditioned everything," the Argentine pointed out.

The defeat left São Paulo stuck with 38 points in eighth place. The Tricolor now has ten days without commitments due to the Fifa date and will only return to the field on October 16 (Thursday), against Grêmio, in Porto Alegre, for the 28th round of the Brazilian Championship. And Crespo praised the team's attitude, wanting Sunday's performance to be repeated.

"Pride, I am proud of the group, more than the result. For what it showed, how it faced a giant like Palmeiras, our posture was spectacular. Then we can analyze how we got to the goal, what to improve. A rival of category. But very proud, there are things that cannot be controlled. What we could, we did very well. But emotionally, I don't know if to improve, I don't know if that's the word… Luckily no one was expelled, it was supposed to be a disaster, but they kept calm. What happened is unspeakable. It doesn't come back (...) It seems to me a barbarity, a scandal what happened," he said.

"I fully trust the players. We have our limits, but we also have very good things, not everything is positive, not everything is negative. Knowing our virtues and defects, the team showed that it can play at a very high level. Today was a very clear demonstration of how São Paulo can play at a very high level," he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.