Jesse Marsch held back from referee by his own player as Canada boss rages at decision

Jesse Marsch was left furious by a controversial decision during Canada’s World Cup clash with South Africa.

The co-hosts were denied a penalty on the brink of half time in the last 32 showdown at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

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Richie Laryea had gone down inside the area under a challenge from Khuliso Mudau.

Despite penalty appeals from Canada, referee Joao Pinheiro did not point to the spot.

Meanwhile, there was no VAR intervention to overturn the on-field decision.

Replays showed that Mudau had got a slight touch on the ball with his challenge before the collision with Laryea.

However, Marsch disagreed and was still enraged by the call when the half-time whistle blew.

The Canada boss attempted to confront the referee on the pitch before being led away by Canada defender Moise Bombito.

Several of his players did confront the official, though, as they continued their appeals.

Canada had earlier gone closest to breaking the deadlock during the first half, with South Africa scrambling the ball off the line from a set-piece.

‘That’s a foul’

Former referee Christina Unkel disagreed with the decision of the officials not to award a spot-kick.

Speaking on ITV’s coverage, she explained: “I would prefer to see a penalty given and an on-field recommendation.

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“A good example is Vinicius Jr against Scotland. These are the ones that are up for debate. In my personal opinion, I think that’s a foul and a penalty.”

However, Unkel later revealed why VAR did not get involved to overturn the decision.

She added: “With the angles the VARs have available, they made a good call with that touch in the build-up.

“It is debateable, but VARs are not getting involved at decisions at a very high level.”

The winner of Sunday’s tie will play either the Netherlands or Morocco in the next round.

Their clash takes place on Monday, with the last 16 meeting to take place in Houston on Saturday.

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Both Canada and South Africa are playing in the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time ever.

The former finished second in group B behind Switzerland, whilst their opponents were runners-up in group A behind Mexico.