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Ecuador manager Gustavo Quinteros believes that his team's disallowed goal in a 0-0 draw with Brazil would have been counted by officials had it gone in from his opponents. With the match still level in the second half, Ecuador's Miller Bolanos played a hard cross back across goal that ended up going right at Brazil goalkeeper Alisson. The ball bounced off Alisson, hit the post and went into the net, but the linesman ruled it had crossed the end line before Bolanos struck it. Replays suggested it was a close call, but Quinteros felt after watching it repeatedly that the result should have undoubtedly been a goal that would have given his team a 1-0 lead. "I just saw the replay several times, and unfortunately the referees again make a mistake in favor of the stronger team," Quinteros said. "In fact, if the play had been on the other side, we doubt very much that the referee would have decided to invalidate that goal. "So we're very angry about that. all that effort, all that work, and we get a goal taken away from us. In any case, we're very happy with the way the team played." Quinteros also called into question how a linesman that far away could be able to make such a call in the first place, using the term "bionic" to describe the sight that would be necessary to view the play from such a distance. "With a bionic look, the lineman decides to invalidate our goal," he said. "I saw it 25 times on video just now, and the ball never went out completely. Maybe 70 percent the ball went out of bounds. "And [the linesman's] so sure of himself, even though he's 50, 60 metres away. If he had been closer, then I guess we wouldn't be so angry." Brazil manager Dunga offered little sympathy and claimed that he did not see whether it was a goal or not: "I cannot say whether or not it went out, I was far away. "I did not see on television and from my position it is difficult to know. The players who were closest say the ball went out." Despite feeling hard done by the call, the Ecuador boss did say that he was still happy with the result, having drawn with Brazil for just the second time in Copa America history. "This was an extremely difficult game, and we realize that the mistake that the referees made, could have meant a win for Ecuador," he said. "So of course it makes me angry. And I wouldn't have said a thing had I not looked at the images of the video. That video tells me that the ball never went out." Peru was the only team in Group B to win on Saturday with a 1-0 victory against Haiti. That means the draw between Brazil and Ecuador has the Peruvians atop the group, with all four teams returning to action on Wednesday, June 8.
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