Lionel Messi accused referee of bias against his team, after Argentina lost to Brazil in the semi-final of the Copa America last night.
Argentina faced Brazil in the most anticipated match of the Copa America 2019, but Lionel Messi’s side were left disappointed after Brazil secured a 2-0 win to see themselves march towards the finale.
On the other hand, Argentina’s captain was fuming, as he reportedly accused referee of bias against his side after the match last night. Messi was particularly aggrieved Argentina were not awarded a penalty by the Ecuadorian referee Roddy Zambrano immediately before Brazil’s second goal but this was only one of several number of complaints.
“They were not better than us. They found the net early and the second goal came from a penalty they didn’t award,” Messi said. “The officiating was crazy. There were clear penalties, on Nicolas Otamendi, on Sergio Aguero.”
“He [the referee] was on their side. In every divided ball or dispute, he inclined the pitch their way. It’s not an excuse, but the truth is that, in this Copa, they kept on blowing for stupid things, for handballs, penalties. But today, they didn’t even go to VAR when there were clear plays that should have been looked at.”
The defeat was hard on Messi, as he missed another chance to find his maiden success with the national team after his 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal.
However, the 32-year-old star is proud of his team for the performances they have put, despite the difficulties faced by the Argentine contingent according to Messi.
“It was the best match we did in the Copa, against a Brazil that has spectacular players in all its lines. These guys made a huge sacrifice. They deserve respect. Argentina has the material to keep growing.” Messi added.
Here is the interview
On the individual level, Messi did not have a good campaign in Copa America, as he scored only one goal in the tournament, and that too from a penalty. Otherwise, the sensational player remained underwhelming.
How twitter reacted
https://twitter.com/VirginBet/status/1146363928798289920
https://twitter.com/FootballFunnnys/status/1146362260408938496
Lionel Messi blaming the referees now. He's forgetting that if it wasn't for poor officiating he'd only be having one Champions League title to his name. Lol https://t.co/zhrvvnEVxL
— faraimupfuti (@faraimupfuti) July 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/Zuks_Franco/status/1146350385935867906
Following the comments made by Lionel Messi after the defeat against Brazil.
Was the referee really biased against the La Albiceleste ?
Have your say#BRAARG #messi #2019copaamerica #wakabetng pic.twitter.com/cA4bUNBxxv
— WakaBet (@WakabetNG) July 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/itwitrandomly/status/1146339374579122176
