Raphinha: I apologise for the red card, and we still have a lot to improve

Raphinha has apologized for his red card during Brazil's match against Japan, which ended in a 3-2 defeat for the Brazilian national team in the international friendly held today, Saturday, at the National Stadium in Singapore.

FC Barcelona player Raphinha began his remarks by apologizing for his red card incident, saying: "First of all, I want to apologize for my dismissal, but sometimes it is difficult to control your nerves after all these refereeing mistakes. I tried to talk to the referee several times, but he was not willing to listen to me at any time, and that is unacceptable."

Raphinha has continued to voice his objections to several incidents, stating: "In my opinion, the first goal for Japan was preceded by a mistake, as the player handled the ball, but this can be understood according to the current laws. There was also a penalty in the first half, as the ball touched me first, then I was pushed from behind and fell to the ground. And for the third goal, there was a very clear foul against João Gomes, and despite the intervention of VAR, the referee awarded the goal. Therefore, it is very difficult for me not to talk about the refereeing."

In discussing the performance of the Brazil national team, Raphinha confirmed that the team is going through a development phase after the FIFA World Cup, saying: "We are evolving and reaching the necessary harmony after the FIFA World Cup. In my opinion, we played a great match, and our performance in the second half was much better than in the first half, but it becomes difficult when you also play against the referee; the situation is very complicated."

FC Barcelona player concluded his statements by emphasizing that criticizing the refereeing does not absolve the players of their responsibility for the defeat, adding: "I do not shy away from our responsibility, as we still have a lot to improve on, and we will work on that, but we cannot ignore what happened in terms of officiating in today's match or pass over it without comment."