Pochettino was dismayed at a pair of decisions that he believed tilted the contest against his team, which had taken an early lead thanks to Chris Richards’ headed goal in the fourth minute.
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Mexico’s 77th-minute winner through Edson Álvarez was originally ruled offside before being allowed following a review, but Pochettino took greatest issue with a handball no-call against defender Jorge Sánchez that had occurred about 10 minutes prior.
Pochettino was infuriated after television replays showed Sánchez handling the ball in the area after 66 minutes, with the Argentinean claiming that if the same thing had happened at the other end Mexico would have been given a penalty. Sánchez’s hand clearly hit the ball as he was bracing himself while slipping in the Mexico box, with the lack of intent appearing to be the reasoning for why no penalty was given, both in the moment or upon review.
“I’m not going to cry,” Pochettino said in his post-match press conference. “I wanted to tell the truth, and the truth was that if that happened in the opposite (box) for sure it’s penalty.
“(Sánchez) was the player with the knee on the floor. He pushed the hand over the ball. It’s not that the hand was on the floor and the ball touched.
“OK, well the excuses now, but you know that was (a) penalty and maybe 2-1 for us and maybe we now (would be) celebrating the trophy. I think that it is clear and it’s not about to cry, it’s not about to complain. For me it was embarrassing to see that situation and it’s a shame.”
"The truth was that if that happened in the opposite half in their box- for sure a penalty." Mauricio Pochettino speaks on the apparent handball that was not called on Mexico in the 66th minute pic.twitter.com/1QLQlOzwXb — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) Martin Rogers is Head of U.S. Soccer for The Athletic. He was previously national columnist for FOX Sports, multimedia features and enterprise correspondent for USA TODAY, and soccer writer for Yahoo Sports. Prior to moving to the United States in 2007, he was a soccer reporter for the Daily Mirror. He has covered eight World Cups, eight Olympic Games, and ten Super Bowls.
"The truth was that if that happened in the opposite half in their box- for sure a penalty."
Mauricio Pochettino speaks on the apparent handball that was not called on Mexico in the 66th minute pic.twitter.com/1QLQlOzwXb
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) Martin Rogers is Head of U.S. Soccer for The Athletic. He was previously national columnist for FOX Sports, multimedia features and enterprise correspondent for USA TODAY, and soccer writer for Yahoo Sports. Prior to moving to the United States in 2007, he was a soccer reporter for the Daily Mirror. He has covered eight World Cups, eight Olympic Games, and ten Super Bowls.