Lionel Messi has accused the referees of favouring Brazil as Argentina crashed out of the Copa America with a 2-0 defeat in the semi-final in Belo Horizonte.
Argentina were knocked out by Brazil from Copa America 2019 as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino in either half sealed a place in the finals.
Lionel Messi did not provide an assist or score a goal from open play at the 2019 Copa América – converting a penalty against Paraguay.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) July 3, 2019
Nine senior international tournaments without lifting a trophy. pic.twitter.com/BftiFzpCVf
The Barcelona star who failed to have a decisive impact on the game, had a lot to say about the referees in the post-match interview.
He criticized match official Roddy Zambrano and VAR for failing to award a penalty on a foul on Sergio Aguero just prior to Firmino’s 71st minute strike.
Messi told reporters.
“They were not better than us. They found the net early and the second goal came from a penalty [to Aguero] they didn’t award,”
“They [the officials] had booked a lot of bullsh*t, but they didn’t even check the VAR, that’s incredible.
“That happened all over the game. At the first glance of contact, they ruled in their [Brazil’s] favour and this kind of bullsh*t distracted us from the game.
“There is no excuses for us, but we need to review this, analyse it and let’s hope CONMEBOL does something about it.
“I think we played a great game. We made a great effort and they were not superior to us.”
Argentina had more shots than Brazil (14-4) and struck the woodwork twice as they came close to getting back into the contest.
Aguero looped a header onto the crossbar with Alisson well-beaten in the first-half and Messi slammed a shot into the post in the second period.
The Selecao were clinical taking both their chances, only having four shots in the whole match.
Jesus and Firmino both scored and assisted each other as they led Brazil to their first Copa America final since 2007.
