Brazil handshake snub gets thumbs down from Australia striker Sam Kerr

Australia beat Brazil 3-2 in Newcastle. (Source: AP)

Australia’s women footballers have taken a dim view of the handshake snub they received from Brazil players after beating the South Americans 3-2 in a home match on Tuesday. At the end of a heated contest in Newcastle, some ‘Matildas’ players were ignored as they approached their opponents to shake hands, triggering a storm of criticism on social media.

“Not shaking hands, it’s not an Australian thing but I’m not really going to comment on it because it’s not something I think is very… I don’t really like it, but whatever,” Australia striker Sam Kerr told local media.

“It was heated. I don’t know how it started… But I guess that’s what happens when you get under people’s skin, not only in the game but the last three matches,” she added of the trio of wins Australia have registered against Brazil.

“It was disappointing to see. We think of them as a very highly respectable team and I don’t think we got the respect we deserved tonight after the last three performances.”

Matildas coach Alen Stajcic agreed the Australians had rattled Brazil but stopped short of taking the visitors to task.

“They did (lose the plot). They’re a proud footballing nation,” he told Reuters in Melbourne on Wednesday.

“As we all know, football is as important as religion over there. We’ve got the wood on them at the moment.

“We’re performing a little bit better than they are but at the end of the day, we’ve just got to keep it all in a bit of perspective.”

The sixth-ranked Matildas have won their last five international matches and clinched the inaugural four-team Tournament of Nations in the United States last month.

Brazil forward Neymar raised eyebrows last week after he snubbed a handshake from Celtic fullback Anthony Ralston following Paris St Germain’s 5-0 Champions League win in Glasgow.