In which the Spurs keeper is invited to thank his lucky stars and pipe down …

There’s an awful lot of piffle from Brazil, and Heurelho Gomes is now beginning to get a bit irritating.

Comeonspurs.com quotes him as “blasting” Darren Bent with these words: “I didn’t think I would get sent off because I didn’t think it was a penalty. When I saw the ball was going out I pulled my arm back.

“It’s a difficult situation but it is his (Bent’s) job. The referee needs to know these things, that when a striker comes to the 18-yard box they try to dive for a penalty. They have to know.”

They also have to know, Mr Gomes, that goalkeepers are not always above a bit of foul play themselves.

If you haven’t seen it already, read what we’ve had to say about it today at this link.

Many Sunderland fans accept that we were very lucky to be awarded a penalty for the second-half incident (as well as being unlucky enough to have Darren in rare wasteful mood as he took the kick).

Perhaps Mr Gomes should accept that he was extremely fortunate to get away with the first half challenge on the same player.

My guess remains that Craig Gordon would have been dismissed in identical circumstances in either instance (wrongly, in my view, since the first warranted a yellow and the second as I have conceded, shouldn’t have been given). But as one Spurs-supporting pal has already put it: “Ah, you’re sounding like me when we lose.”

Colin Randall

* Image courtesy of A Love Supreme, where you can buy the T-shirt.

Salut! Sunderland, while not caring enormously about international football, congratulates Darren Bent on his England call-up. Good for him, brings a little reflected glory to the club and may yet prove more meaningful than SuperKev’s inclusion in unSuperKev’s Euro 2000 squad. But there is unfinished Bent-related business. What was that about eating our words? Colin Randall prepares the dish, chooses the wine and sets the table …

Salut! is now officially split on the issue. In his excellent review of Saturday’s events at White Hart Lane, Pete Sixsmith said the penalty was right and so was the yellow, since red would have been harsh.

I finally saw the footage late last night. I still believe Gomes made a rash dive at Bent’s feet and that it was therefore a penalty waiting to happen. Except that Darren didn’t wait, and it – the foul – didn’t happen.
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