Wanchope unwilling to criticise referee

Costa Rica coach Paulo Wanchope refused to blame referee Walter Lopez after his side’s controversial loss to Mexico at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Wanchope’s side suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat in the quarter-final after Andres Guardado converted a 124th-minute penalty on Sunday.

But it came in controversial circumstances after Lopez awarded a penalty for a foul by Roy Miller on Oribe Peralta, despite there appearing to be minimal contact.

Wanchope, who is under pressure to keep his job, was unwilling to make excuses.

“They are human,” he said.

“They saw something in the area and that’s why they called the penalty.”

Wanchope said his team were hurting following their elimination, as they were knocked out in the last eight for the third straight time.

“I’m not creating speculation,” he said.

“I am hurt, the players were hurt. I don’t look for excuses. We are out, but we’ll go into the future now.”