Argentina captain Lionel Messi blasted the officiating after the team’s 2-0 loss to Brazil in the Copa America semifinals that knocked them out of the tournament.
While the tournament has been plagued by lengthy stoppages for the video assistant referee (VAR), Ecuadoran referee Roddy Zambrano preferred to let the game run, which incensed Argentina when VAR did not come into play on several occasions.
“[The officials] were tired of making bulls— calls at this Copa and they didn’t go to VAR. It was unbelievable,” Messi said after the loss.
“It was like that all match. It was bulls— that they were doing it all match. There is no excuse, it must be looked into. Hopefully, CONMEBOL does something about these kind of referees.
Messi’s not happy ? pic.twitter.com/2ciXFqh50U
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 3, 2019
“Because we did everything to try and advance but [the officials] stacked the deck against us. I don’t believe they will do anything because Brazil controls everything, so it is very complicated. But I don’t think we should feel bad for anything. It didn’t happen and we had bad luck.”
Messi, who has still not won a major title with Argentina, was more influential than in his first few matches here but was still a pale shadow of the player who has won everything with his club Barcelona.
“I’m upset because we had a great match, a great effort,” the man from Rosario added. “It wasn’t for it to finish in that way, because they weren’t the better team.”
“We played our best game of the Copa America. They were never superior to us” Messi added.