A Denmark official hurled abuse at Chinese team after they lost
to the hosts 3-2 in a World Cup group game and caused an off-pitch
scuffle involving some members from both sides, according to local
media reports on Thursday.
Denmark head coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller seemed furious and
refused to shake hands with his Chinese counterpart Marika
Domanski-Lyfors following his side lost a crucial game to China on
Wednesday.
"This was a very tight game and it's natural he was somewhat
upset, so we can understand he was unwilling to shake hands with
me. It is normal," Domanski-Lyfors told the post-match
conference.
Heiner-Moller made no comment on this matter, saying: "I think
FIFA will investigate it, and I now only want to concentrate on the
games."
Sina.com released a story early on Thursday morning disclosing
what really happened then.
It quoted a Chinese insider as saying: "After the referee blew
the buzzer, our players were celebrating on the turf, and the
Denmark players were very downcast. A Denmark official looking like
an assistant coach walked up to us and raised his middle finger
toward us."
"He even yelled a four-letter word at us. We could not bear it
and made some arguments with him, then Domanski came up and
separated us.
"All this happened after their head coach refused to shake
hands," he said.
"The match was really enthralling, though Denmark lost, they
scored two goals. They should be honored to display such
performance before over 50,000 spectators. We should have relished
all these moments, so it's a really regret given what happened
there," he went on.
"Before the game, we established that Denmark had planned to win
or draw with China. As they rarely beat Brazil, their last group
opponents, so in order to qualify for the knockout stage, they
wanted to seize some points from this game.
"They were very excited after scoring two goals in the second
half to make it 2-2, and never expected we could hit in a winner. I
think the goal scored by Song Xiaoli threw them into despair, which
finally led to their loss of temper," he said.
Denmark scored the equalizer in the 87th minute, but one minute
later substitute Song wrapped the game up for China with an
unstoppable long shot.
"The game was a roller coaster, their euphoria turned into
despondency in only one minute, so their mood must have been not
good. But whatever the reasons, it is unacceptable that one of
their coaches became foul-mouthed and made some obscene behaviors,"
he was quoted as saying.
(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2007)