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Mark Geiger gives Colombia's Radamel Falcao (No. 9) a yellow card in the World Cup match against the United States. ;England. (Photo: Yuri Kochetkov, EPA-EFE)

MOSCOW – US referee Mark Geiger was accused by captain of Colombia Radamel Falcao of "shamefully" favoring England during the fierce series of 16 World Cup clashes Tuesday night.

He oversaw a hard-fought game and handed out eight yellow cards, while scoring 36 fouls as England broke its curse of penalty kicks to qualify for the quarter-finals.

"I found it odd to have an American referee," Falcao said following the 1-1 draw, which ended with the win for England. 4-3 on penalties. "To tell you the truth, the process leaves us with a lot of doubts, it only spoke English, some prejudices were certain."

"In case of doubt, he always went to England. It is a shame that this happens in the round of 16 at a World Cup. "

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The way the game became mean also earned the Major League Soccer referee criticism of the media In truth, if it was not for him to take quick action, he could have become completely out of control.

Hard fouls were a basic element of the game, and players on both sides reacted regularly to contact in the hope of seeing an opponent punished.

After England got a penalty in the second half – eventually converted by Harry Kane – several Colombian players tried to catch the penalty spot while Geiger did not look in.

Jordan Henderson received It was a whim of a Colombian player, and later one of his own. Usually, Geiger would be surrounded by a group of labyrinth players from England or Colombia – and sometimes both – protesting against the decisions.

Commentators around the world have recognized the game as one of the dirtiest of the World Cup.

"Through small calls, he pushed us (toward) our goal, it was clear to me," he added. "The referee has bothered us a lot." In the 50-50 games, he always made the calls for England.This situation was undermining us.He did not act with the same criteria for both teams. "

This is not the first time Geiger has been involved in the controversy during the tournament. After officiating at a group match, he was accused by the Moroccan Nordin Amrabat of claiming the jersey of a Portugal player, an badertion that was refuted angrily by Geiger and FIFA [19659020] Autumnay

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