Messi slams referee after Argentina win on penalties
Sports
Messi said referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz should not have officiated World Cup quarter-final.
DOHA (AFP) - Lionel Messi said referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz should not have officiated Argentina s tempestuous shootout victory over the Netherlands in the World Cup quarter-finals at Lusail Stadium.
Argentina won on penalties early on Saturday after a dramatic 2-2 draw in which Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst scored twice late on, including a last-gasp equaliser from a short free-kick awarded when German Pezzella shoved over Weghorst.
"After they got the draw I felt a lot of anger," said Messi. "I don t want to talk about the referee, because they immediately reprimand you or sanction you, but I think people saw what happened.
"FIFA has to review that, it can t give a referee like that a match of this importance, when they re not up to the task."
He added: "We didn t have a great game, and then the referee sent it to extra time. He was always against us. In the last play, it was not a foul."
Mateu Lahoz showed 16 yellow cards in total, with Netherlands wing-back Denzel Dumfries sent off after the penalty shootout for a second booking.
Messi had scored his fourth goal of the tournament from the spot in the 73rd minute after an earlier assist for Nahuel Molina s opener.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was the hero, saving the Netherlands first two penalties before Lautaro Martinez struck the winning kick.
"We didn t want extra time or penalties," said Messi. "We suffered too much because of how everything happened, but it is the quarter-finals of a World Cup.
"We knew how to suffer when it was our turn, but we got through to the semi-finals. It s beautiful, something impressive."
