Fabio Capello insists England defender Rio Ferdinand should not be held responsible for his side's 0-1 qualifying defeat against Ukraine.
Fabio Capello insists England defender Rio Ferdinand should not be held responsible for his side's 0-1 qualifying defeat against Ukraine.
Capello saw England's unblemished record in Group Six come to an end on Saturday as Serhiy Nazarenko's deflected first half goal in the Dnipro Stadium sunk his 10 men.
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The turning point of a fiery encounter, which was marred by Ukraine fans repeatedly throwing flares onto the pitch, came when Ferdinand made a woeful misjudgment that led to England goalkeeper Robert Green being dismissed.
After initially appearing to send off Ferdinand, Slovenian referee Damir Skomina showed Green a red card, making him the first England goalkeeper to be sent off.
Andriy Shevchenko missed the penalty, but England never really recovered and Ukraine pushed home their one-man advantage through Nazarenko's strike.
Ferdinand's blunder wasn't the first by the Manchester United centre-back in an England shirt recently. He was also at fault for a goal in England's friendly draw in Holland in August.
But Capello preferred to point the finger of blame at the referee rather than Ferdinand, who has also been below-par for United during an injury-hit start to the season.
"He made one mistake, that is all, and that was for the penalty," Capello said.
"Normally I don't speak about referees. This time I am changing my mind. It was a big mistake.
"Rio was running, the goalkeeper is diving. I need someone to explain to me how he can get that wrong.
"I spoke with the fourth official when the referee showed Rio the red card. He said he would tell the referee it was not Rio.
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