England wary of card-happy referees

BUHLERTA: England are preparing for Saturday's quarter-final against Portugal with a wary eye on the World Cup's card-happy referees.

Portugal will be missing Deco and Costinha through suspension in a tournament where referees have already handed out a record 25 red cards.

Central defender Rio Ferdinand told a news conference on Tuesday: ''Referees have been very tough and if I am honest I think over-tough.

''A lot of tackles have gone in by players who have got booked and probably the yellow cards have been handed out a bit too freely in my opinion.

''But you have got to deal with that.'' Owen Hargreaves, who could start as a holding midfielder with the task of breaking up Portugal's attacks at Gelsenkirchen, also feels referees are being too severe.

''It's a bit of a shame really when you see sometimes what players are getting a yellow card for,'' he said.

''Sometimes it's very difficult going into a challenge especially if you are already on a yellow card -- you have obviously got it at the back of your mind to be careful.

''The refs have been very strict in the way they have handed out yellow cards.'' Hargreaves said England would at least know what to expect when they look to avenge their quarter-final defeat by Portugal at Euro 2004.

''All the players have seen that refs are going to continue to give out yellow cards if there are challenges -- so obviously we've all prepared ourselves.

''It's important for the players as well that the referee has a good day and lets the players play. It's very difficult to get a flow in the game if it's stopped every 30 seconds.''

Reuters

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