Kuyt: I know the referee but he didn't do me a favour
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Liverpool star Kuyt: I know the ref but he didn't do me a favour against Arsenal.
Dirk Kuyt, the man at the centre of the penalty controversy in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Emirates Stadium, denied referee and fellow Dutchman Pieter Vink had done him a favour by rejecting what looked like a blatant spot-kick. Kuyt, who capped an outstanding display by scoring Liverpool's equaliser in a 1-1 first leg draw, admitted that he knew Vink and came from the same area of Holland.
The official hails from a town just outside Amsterdam called Noordwijkerhout, which is only 5km from the striker's home town of Katwijk aan Zee. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was strongly critical of Vink after Kuyt appeared to pull Alexander Hleb back in the box in the second half but Liverpool's Dutch striker believes the official was correct with his decision to wave play on.
"I think the referee got the decision right," said Kuyt. "I did touch Hleb but I didn't pull his shirt or hold him. It was close to be fair but he didn't deserve a penalty. "I do know the referee. I played in Holland lots of times where he was the referee and he was the official when we played Feyenoord earlier this season. We both come from the same area. He comes from Leiden and that is the place where I grew up also.
"It is wrong, though, to say that, because I know the referee, he made decisions in my favour. He made a good decision against Arsenal with the penalty. There were no favours."
Can't look: Arsene Wenger was upset by Arsenal's luck
Wenger understandably, though, disagreed. "There was a blatant penalty," said the Arsenal manager. "It was not given - and just under the eye of the referee. This sort of thing has happened to us frequently and with the referee that close, it should have been given. If he is in a bad position we can see why it wasn't given but he was so close to Kuyt and still didn't give the penalty. It is difficult to understand why it wasn't given."
Kuyt believes his team now have the edge but expects a tough second leg against an Arsenal side he described as "playing the best football in Europe". He added: "I wouldn't say we are favourites. Champions League matches are very close and you never know what is going to happen in them."
Arsenal had taken a 23rd minute lead through an Emmanuel Adebayor header but Liverpool were back on level terms three minutes later when Kuyt slid home Steven Gerrard's cross from the left. Arsenal's Robin Van Persie, who went off at half-time with a thigh injury, is a doubt for Saturday's Premier League match between the two sides.
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hmm, perhaps the referee thought you trying to do a mamba move and hence no penalty..
well, it is payback to Wenger for often "missing" fouls by his players..
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kuyt talks too much
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i still think ref is helping him
he machiam taunting ass-anal sia
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I knew he got some help from his compatriot
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saw clips of it..
don't know how the ref missed the Dirt Cult foul...
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it was a blatant penalty .. and u knew it kuyt..
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Wonder which town Van Persie's from...
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that pic he looks like he's pinching him..
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'Ghost penalty' which could haunt Arsenal
Jose Mourinho could not forget Luis Garcia's 'ghost goal', even two years on when he returned to Merseyside for a second European Cup semi-final that would prove even more painful than the first. Time and again he had looked at the moment that took Liverpool to the Istanbul final in 2005, and the then Chelsea manager remained unconvinced that the ball had crossed the line.
You wonder how long Arsene Wenger will nurse a grievance over the 'ghost penalty' that almost certainly deprived Arsenal of victory in the first leg of their quarter-final against Liverpool.
A born conspiracy theorist like Mourinho would have made much of the fact that the man who ruled that Dirk Kuyt had not brought down Alexander Hleb was not only Dutch, he knew Kuyt well and lives a few miles from the striker's family home amid the sand dunes and tulip fields of Katwijk.
Kuyt did not deny that he knew the referee, Pieter Vink, but smiled when it was put to him that this might have had an impact on his decision-making. "He does come from close to where I grew up but it is wrong to say he did me a favour," the Liverpool forward said.
"I had him many times in Holland, where he made a few decisions against me, but I think he made a good one here and, to be fair, he knows Robin van Persie, too. I think the penalty decision was right. I touched Hleb but I never pulled his shirt, so I don't think he deserved to get a penalty. It was close, but not a penalty."
Wenger, naturally enough, disagreed, but it was Kuyt's other intervention, sliding home to clip in Steven Gerrard's cross, that would have troubled the Arsenal manager more. Arsenal will travel to Merseyside in a worse position than Chelsea were in 2005 or 2007. Then, while Liverpool emerged each time from the first leg at Stamford Bridge with the tie in the balance, in neither game did they score an away goal.
"It was really important to get something to take back to Anfield," Kuyt reflected. "Arsenal played really well, we have to be honest about that. They gave a great performance but we got a goal, and everybody knows what we can do at Anfield."
Kuyt is working on the basis that Arsenal will probably score in the second leg. Only once in Arsenal's last nine visits to Anfield have Liverpool kept a clean sheet against them. "I don't think you can say we are favourites; it is going to be really, really close," he said.
It was a goal that summed up his campaign - only one in open play in the Premier League, but six in the Champions League. Kuyt is an immensely popular figure at Anfield who has endured a difficult second season on Merseyside, scarred by the death of his father, and which has seen him pushed without complaint to the right wing, where he began his career with Utrecht.
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Liverpool-Arsenal referee: I'm no cheat
Disbelief: Alexandr Hleb reacts after Dirk Kuyt's challenge.
The Dutch referee at the centre of a controversial Champions League penalty decision this week has his nationatilty affected his judgement during Wednesday's night's encounter between Liverpool and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Pieter Vink, 41, is from Holland like Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt, the would-be offender in this specific incident. According to reports, Vink, who is seen as one of the best officials in his native Holland said: "It's ridiculous to say I made the decision because I'm Dutch.
"There are many nationalities playing in every team nowadays - Spanish, French, Italians, Brazilians, and it's not an issue. It's a completely ludicrous suggestion."
Vink, who will be the Dutch representative at the summer's Euro 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland, comes from the same area of Holland as Kuyt, living a few miles from the Liverpool striker's family.
Kuyt was equally dismissive, saying: 'I know the ref. When I played for Feyenoord, he was ref for a lot of our games. 'But you could say the same thing about Robin van Persie. 'He also used to play for Feyenoord before joining Arsenal and he'll know Pieter Vink just as well. 'So it is wrong to say the ref did me a favour on Wednesday night just because he knows me.'
Kuyt, who risked conceding a penalty opportunity when his challenge brought Alexandr Hleb to the ground, admitted he knew the referee but has denied any possible collusion. According to Uefa rules Vink is not allowed to comment on the individual incident but he did say: "I haven't seen it again but I will look at it on DVD.
"If it was a game in Holland then I would admit if I made a mistake. "All I will say is that it was a great atmosphere with two good teams and I didn't have a problem handling this match."
One of Vink's former colleagues, Mario van der Ende, Fifa's refereeing advisor and a fellow Dutchman, is not in agreement. Van der Ende said: "When you are an official at this level you know you have to get it right - and he didn't. "My colleagues, journalists and Guus Hiddink, who saw it numerous times, all said that it was a 100 per cent penalty."