Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari blasted Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda for his refusal to award Portugal a penalty during Wednesday's World Cup semi-final defeat against France.

The controversial moment came in the closing stages of the first half when Cristiano Ronaldo threw himself to the turf in the French area and claimed to have been pushed over by Willy Sagnol.

Television replays clearly showed the Manchester United winger had dived, but Scolari insisted his side should have had a spot-kick.

The incident came minutes after France captain Zinedine Zidane had scored what proved to be the game's only goal - a penalty awarded for a foul by Ricardo Carvalho on Thierry Henry.

An irate Scolari raged: "We know South American referees and that they know how to kill a game.

"All I can say is that he was right when he granted the penalty on the French player and he made a mistake when he didn't give Portugal a penalty when Cristiano Ronaldo was fouled.

"I don't believe that France was better than Portugal - it was a balanced match and one penalty decided it."

Portugal now face Germany in the third place play-off in Stuttgart on Saturday.