TORONTO - Richie Laryea calls it “one of the biggest forms of disrespect.”
The Canadian wingback was referring to the act of spitting at somebody, the way in which he was focused by a Panama participant late in Canada’s 4-1 win in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying play Wednesday.
Laryea stopped the sport within the 89th minute whereas making an attempt to take a throw-in at centre subject on the east aspect of BMO Field. Moments earlier, Panama winger Edgar Barcenas had retrieved the ball and flipped it to Laryea earlier than backing away.
Laryea all of a sudden dropped the ball and raised his palms within the air as followers within the seats behind him rose in anger.
“I grabbed the ball. I was looking to throw it in and the guy had spat towards me,” Laryea mentioned in an interview Friday. “I know a couple of the fans right behind saw it because they had jumped out of their seats and were yelling at the ref. And the same with one of the guys on the team — (Canadian captain) Steven Vitoria jumped up and went to the ref because he saw it as well.
“Obviously that’s something you don’t want to see in the game ... I know there’s frustration from (Panama’s) end, being up 1-0 to it being 4-1 and all that. So I get that. But there’s no place for anyone trying to spit on someone.”
Laryea mentioned American referee Armando Villarreal and the assistant referee on that aspect missed the incident.
“They were kind of telling me ‘Oh yeah, we believe you but we can’t do anything about it because we didn’t see it,’” mentioned Laryea. “Obviously I wouldn’t make something like that up. I was enjoying myself playing. We were happy, we’re winning 4-1. I had nothing to be angry about. But when somebody does something like that ... I was lucky he had missed me. But not by much.”
Barcenas held his palms up, protesting his innocence as Canadian gamers complained. Play finally continued with none sanctions.
The incident triggered a melee after the ultimate whistle with Laryea nonetheless steamed over the incident. The Toronto FC participant, who finally needed to be pulled away by teammates, might be heard on the TV broadcast asking a match official to evaluate the video.
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Observe @NeilMDavidson on Twitter
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Oct. 15, 2021.
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