Australians fume over referee

MUNICH, June 19 (Reuters) Australia's players struggled to disguise their frustration at a series of refereeing decisions that went against them in the World Cup 2-0 Group F loss to Brazil.

Midfielder Brett Emerton was booked for dissent after a seemingly timid challenge on Roberto Carlos then striker Harry Kewell exchanged words with German referee Markus Merk after the fulltime whistle.

''It's frustrating when you go out there and play so well against the world champions and you come off losing when you think you should have come off with something,'' Kewell told reporters yesterday.

''But at the end of the day he refereed the game how he wanted and he did a good job. You can't complain because he's the referee on the day. It was a hard match to referee.'' Several other players, including the captain Mark Viduka, also vented their exasperation as the referee awarded 25 fouls against them and just nine against Brazil.

''What can I say, the referee's always right even when he's not right,'' said defender Vince Grella.

''But at the end of the day, that's not why we lost. We put them under pressure but we didn't capitalise.''

Defender Scott Chipperfield said the final scoreline was not a true reflection of the game. The Australians had more shots on goal in the scoreless first half but conceded a goal just after halftime to Adriano.

Desperate to salvage a draw or win the match, Australia threw everything at Brazil in the remainder of the match only to concede a last-minute goal to Fred.

''Overall I thought we played some good football but when you play against the top teams sometimes decisions don't go your way,'' Chipperfield said.

Australia can still qualify for the second round for the first time if they draw or beat Croatia on Thursday and defender Lucas Neill said their performances so far proved they belonged on the world stage.

''The momentum is definitely with Australian football. It's taken us a long time to get here but we can match it with the best,'' he said.

''We have to kick on from here. We can't just say we beat Japan and gave Brazil a run for their money and now we're out.

We've got to go for it now, make the second round and mix it with some more big boys.''

REUTERS