Italy coach Cesare Prandelli stated that Claudio Marchisio should not have been sent-off in the Azzurri’s defeat against Uruguay in Brazil 2014.
The Azzurri lost 1-0 to the Celeste and the defeat knocked Italy out of the World Cup after only collecting one win in the group stage.
Prandelli spoke to Rai Sport and Sky Sport Italia after the match about the sending-off, taking-off Mario Balotelli and his future as Italy’s coach.
“It did not seem to me to be a foul for a red card. There were hard contests, also edgy, but not one worthy of expulsion,” said Prandelli.
“It was a very balanced match and tactically beautiful and the referee ruined it because of a red that wasn’t there.
“It is absurd to go down to 10 men for a thing like this. [It is] clear that when you are fighting for every ball as they did here that there are fouls, but I have not seen bad fouls or red cards.
“The preparation was not wrong, we still had some legs. We were the only team to play two games at 1 pm and there is a difference in comparison to [playing] at 6 pm.
“[Balotelli] is a player that does not ever understand when he is calm and when he is not. He is an important attacker but he had to give equilibrium. I feared going down to 10 [men].
“I have worked for four years and on a red card it puts all into discussion. We will make reflections and then we will see.
Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria
