Dumb and even
dumber
JAVIER MASCHERANO has ignored the furious outcry over
his senseless red card against Manchester United by insisting he
did nothing wrong.
It seemed like the man dubbed the dumbest man on the
planet got even dumber as he claimed he was not in ref Steve
Bennett’s face. Liverpool’s Argentinian midfielder insisted: “I do
not know why I was sent off. I asked the referee what was
happening.
"I did not swear, I was not aggressive and I did not
confront him. All I did was ask him what was happening, nothing
else. "So when he showed me the second yellow card and sent me off
I could not believe it. “I am sorry to my team-mates because that
meant we went down to 10 men and that made things even more
difficult for us.”
Mascherano received his second yellow card for dissent,
just four days after the game was in uproar over Ashley Cole’s
decision to turn his back on ref Mike Riley. The Argentinian also
refused to leave the field in the 3-0 defeat against United — his
seventh act of contempt towards the officials — and an FA source
confirmed he will almost certainly face a charge of improper
conduct.
Because of the Bank Holiday, Bennett’s report will not
be studied by disciplinary bosses until today. But it is expected
to confirm the sending off was for “consistent dissent”.
The case will be fast-tracked because of the publicity
the incident attracted and Mascherano can expect his automatic
one-match ban to be increased to three games. The only bright spot
for Liverpool is that his suspension will apply only to domestic
games, so he will not be ruled out of the Champions League
quarter-final ties with Arsenal next month. But he will miss
Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Anfield as well as the Premier League
clash with Arsenal on April 5 and the home match against Blackburn
eight days later.
Boss Rafa Benitez also defended Mascherano and tried to
deflect criticism by suggesting Bennett had not offered star
striker Fernando Torres enough protection. Benitez claimed Torres
received some rough treatment from Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic,
and he took him off with nine minutes to play. He said: “Fernando
has some knocks on his ribs and ankle. A lot of knocks and a lot of
kicks. I was just trying to protect him. The doctors will do a scan
on him.”
