Lionel Messi accuses referee of bias for Brazil after a 2-0 defeat in Copa America semi-final

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

🗣 Lionel Messi didn't hold back after the #CopaAmerica semi-final against Brazil.

😲 He claimed the referee was on Brazil's side, pointing out there were clear penalties that should have been awarded to Argentina.

What do you think of VAR? pic.twitter.com/fQKfNhng5z

— Virgin Bet (@VirginBet) July 3, 2019

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

— The Bench Guy ❁ 🌉 (@ThatBenchGuy) July 3, 2019

https://twitter.com/Zuks_Franco/status/1146350385935867906

https://twitter.com/WakabetNG/status/1146344124402077698

Is this your goat??? @ovwede_

Lionel Messi:

🗣 “Throughout the Copa America they called bulls**t handballs, bulls**t penalties and bulls**t fouls. The pitches were awful, the referees were awful but the federation won't do anything about it. The whole tournament was shocking." https://t.co/OCLzVY1zob

— Uncle Seyi. (@stoickymuzik) July 3, 2019

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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