The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 quarterfinal match between Argentina and Netherlands noticed a flurry of yellow playing cards being handed out by referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. He dished out a complete of 19 yellow playing cards, out of which two had been proven to Netherlands full-back Denzel Dumfries.
“I don’t want to talk about referees because then they will sanction you,” Messi stated through the post-match interview with the organiser.
Messi has had fairly the historical past with Lahoz. He was officiating within the 2020 Barcelona vs Osasuna sport the place Messi had paid tribute to Diego Maradona after his loss of life. Much to the displeasure of followers, Lahoz had booked Messi for eradicating his jersey.
In one other occasion, Lahoz disallowed a Messi objective for Barcelona towards Atletico Madrid through the 2013-14 La Liga. The match had resulted in a 1-1 draw and Atletico went on to win the title. Lahoz had later apologised to Barcelona for wrongly disallowing the objective, the group’s then assistant supervisor Elvio Paolorosso revealed.
“But we were scared before the game because we knew what was coming [with Mateu Lahoz]. They cannot put a referee like that on this game when he is not up to the level,” Messi informed beIN Sports.
Similarly, Lahoz had additionally famously despatched Pep Guardiola off for dissent throughout Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal towards Liverpool in 2017/18.
“I could not care less,” Guardiola had stated then.
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