RIO DE JANEIRO — Dutch star Arjen Robben remained at the center of a diving storm Monday after the Netherlands' controversial 2-1 World Cup win over Mexico. Mexico coach Miguel Herrera said the penalty was “invented” and debate intensified after the Bayern Munich striker admitted he had dived in the first half in a bid to get a spot kick. Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar led a late Dutch fightback to beat Mexico 2-1. Robben, who is often accused of going to ground too easily, fell in injury time after a tackle by Mexico's Rafael Marquez. Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca pointed to the spot and Huntelaar stepped up to bury the winning penalty. It came just moments after Sneijder had scored an 88th-minute equalizer to cancel out Giovani dos Santos's superb goal for Mexico. Robben admitted to diving in an unsuccessful attempt to win a penalty earlier in the first half. “I really have to say and at the same time apologize in the first half I took a dive and I really shouldn't do that,” Robben said. “That was a stupid, stupid thing to do but sometimes you're expecting to be struck and then they pull their leg away at the last minute.” But he insisted he had been fouled in injury time. Mexicans were furious however and coach Herrera lashed out at referee Proenca for awarding the penalty. “The penalty was invented,” said Herrera who added that Robben should have been punished. “The determining factor was the man with the whistle. He put us off the World Cup,” said Herrera. The Dutch now face a new Latin American test when they play Costa Rica in the quarterfinals. Mexico's coach Herrera said the referee Proenca should take no more part in the World Cup. He claimed his side had been the victim of poor refereeing in three of their four games in Brazil and a European referee should never have been allocated the game in the first place. “Out of four matches, we had three where the referee was disastrous. “I don't understand why they had someone from the same confederation. Why not an African, Asian or South American referee? All the doubtful decisions went against Mexico.” “He cheated, it's sickening,” said one Mexican fan amid a storm of reaction on Twitter. “The type of embellishment employed by Robben is exactly what drives Americans crazy,” added a sympathetic US football-lover. Some incensed Mexicans called for retrospective punishment for Robben, in the same vein as a ban on Uruguay's Luis Suarez for biting. But his admirers said Robben had simply shown - with his pace, drive and knack of turning games - just why he is one of the greatest players in the world. If Robben's arm-flailing fall was melodramatic, then so was Marquez's lunge ill-judged given just who was in front of him. Followers of the balding 30-year-old's glittering career know that one way or another, with injection of pace, a mesmerizing trick, or a theatrical tumble, time and time again for club and country he is the man who decides games. Giovani dos Santos' strike early in the second-half appeared to have Mexico on course for their first quarterfinal appearance at a World Cup on foreign soil. The Dutch goals stunned the Mexicans however and Herrera admitted his side had lacked experience in how to see the game out. — Agencies
