Newcastle United striker Lomana LuaLua accused Tunisia of robbing him and his Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) team of their African Cup dream here on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old skipper was sent-off late in the first half of the stormy 3-0 defeat at the hands of the hosts who made sure of their place in the quarter-finals.
But both LuaLua and DRC’s English coach Mick Wadsworth lashed out at the Tunisians and accused them of deliberately sabotaging their campaign.
”Ever since we arrived here, they have treated us like shit,” said LuaLua who was red-carded in the 38th minute after a clash with Tunisian midfielder Jawhar Mnari.
Television replays showed that LuaLua kicked out meekly at the ankles of the Tunisian player but Mnari collapsed theatrically to the ground writhing in agony and holding his head.
”The guy had been punching and kicking me. They got what they wanted, they planned for all of this.
”God knows what the reaction will be back in Congo. I fear for my family there but it was me who got the red card. Everytime I come here, I am risking my life so I might have to think about playing internationals in the future.”
The Newcastle player, who had to be escorted from the pitch and was even consoled by Tunisia’s French coach Roger Lemerre, said the hosts had deliberately planned to undermine their preparations.
”They got what they wanted today. They planned for all of this. They gave us a training ground which was at least an hour and a half away while, in the hotel, they gave us rooms only with double beds so we all had to share.
”They were afraid of us. They knew we were coming.”
LuaLua apologised to his coach and the fans back home for getting his marching orders.
”I’m sorry coach — forgive me. But they were cowards.”
Wadsworth, a former assistant coach at Newcastle, was equally scathing.
”We were never allowed to train at this stadium and the training ground is too far away to travel twice a day,” he said.
”All along it’s been a problem and you start wondering why and then having seen what’s happened today just confirms that you know why. It’s very difficult to play in this environment.
”I can’t fault the players, I have to look elsewhere. We spoke to Lomana before the game, we knew he was under a great deal of pressure, we knew they were frightened of him and they changed the team radically to cope with him.
”He got drawn into something that he shouldn’t have. I didn’t see his reaction but I do know he was punched beforehand.”
Wadsworth called on the game’s rulers to clamp down on players over-reacting to tackles and feigning injuries.
”They had the Oscar nominations last night. They should have waited another 24 hours and they could have got a few more here today.
”I don’t like that falling and diving. They keep parading this fair play thing but they do nothing about it. It’s awful.
”I’m not saying we were ever going to win the tournament. I never thought we had the best team.
”I can take losing. We can blame ourselves for losing the first game (against Rwanda) but today was a different story.” – Sapa-AFP