Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda claims the referee was responsible for his team’s 1-0 defeat to Holland on Wednesday.
The Japanese, who finished their Beijing Olympics football campaign without a point, lost their final group match against Holland.
Striker Gerald Sibon converted a 70th minute penalty after Ryan Babel appeared to have his shirt pulled by Keisuke Honda in the box.
The Venlo midfielder expressed his disappointment over the decision made by Argentine referee Hector Baldassi.
"I have no choice but to say the referee has stood in our way," Honda told Japanese reporters after the match.
"I watched the video afterwards and it was not an act deserving of a penalty," he was quoted by the Jiji Press as saying.
And Honda has added fuel to fire by saying the referee was “ready to call a penalty at some point”.
"The referee officiated from the start of the first half as if he was ready to call a penalty at some point," he further told sportsnavi.com.
"It was only by a hairsbreadth that we failed to score. There were a number of chances. I think it is a problem that Japan must overcome," he said.
The Beijing Olympics was Japan’s worst showing in the Under-23 tournament.
The Japanese clinched the bronze medal during the 1968 Mexico City Games. Japan finished bottom of their group, after losing to Nigeria 2-1 and United States 1-0.
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