Maradona lashes Argentine ref Baldassi

Argentina coach Diego Maradona lashed out at World Cup referee Hector Baldassi on Friday, accusing his countryman of a terrible performance in the round of 16 match between Spain and Portugal.

“Spain fought hard, but Portugal made it very easy for them,” said the 49-year-old, when asked about the chances of facing Spain in the semi-finals if his team can beat Germany in the last eight on Saturday.

“My impression was that Portugal didn’t dare to take on Spain but there is also something else I’d like to say – perhaps Portugal simply were unable to get to the Spanish goal.

“Every ball in contention was for Spain. I think the refereeing was terrible.

“I don’t think the red card (for Portugal’s Ricardo Costa) was legitimate. I think every foul was in favour of Spain and everything Portugal did the referee didn’t let them progress. And of course this just adds up.

“(David) Villa’s goal was offside,” he added of the strike that decided the game to give Spain a 1-0 victory.

“I don’t want to be provocative but if you look at the linesman, he was not in line with the move.”

Maradona, who is attempting to emulate Franz Beckenbauer in winning the World Cup as a captain and a coach, was also critical of the officials in Germany’s 4-1 win over England, in which Frank Lampard’s goal was disallowed.

“Linesmen are here to see and if they can’t see then why are they here? That ball was half a metre over the line,” he said.

“But these things happen in football and will continue to until goal-line technology is introduced.”

Despite Maradona’s criticism, his team have been on the favourable end of some dubious decisions, not least Carlos Tevez’s goal against Mexico in their 3-1 round of 16 win. Video replays showed that he was clearly offside.

The World Cup has been blighted by some poor officiating, prompting renewed calls for FIFA to re-examine the use of technology to aid officials.

In response, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said that world football’s governing body would unveil a new global plan to improve refereeing at competitions under its control in October or November.