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10th December 2022
06:09am GMT

"We went 2-0 up and, basically, we controlled the game. The referee was giving everything for them. All of a sudden, they get a good header - a flick that I couldn't clearly see - then, all of a sudden, it turned upside down. "The ref was giving everything for them. He gave 10 minutes [added time] for no reason. He was giving free kicks for them outside the box, two or three times. He just wanted them to score, that's basically it. Hopefully we don't have that ref any more. He's useless."That tirade was met by an 'okay' by the interviewer, who then turned the chat to the penalty shoot-out, but Emi Martinez was not finished. [caption id="attachment_278315" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Cristian Romero, Emi Martinez and Lionel Messi of Argentina. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)[/caption]
"Louis van Gaal has been saying [Netherlands] have an advantage if the game went to penalties and, if it went to penalties, they would win. I think he needs to keep his mouth shut."The Dutch, their coach and the referee had all copped it, and there were only 53 seconds gone in the interview! Sensing Martinez could easily double down on those comments, the chat moved to Croatia, the semi final opponents for Argentina. Martinez said the Croats, who reached the 2018 final, will be "tough". "We'll enjoy today," he added, "and we'll see about them tomorrow." https://twitter.com/lmechegaray/status/1601347210704171008?s=46&t=GiR1Bbns7Lv5RIHejotW0A Argentina captain Lionel Messi also had plenty to say about referee Mateu Lahoz. He stated, "I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you, but people saw what happened.
"I think FIFA must take care of this. It cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to the task."Messi, and especially Emi Martinez, may find themselves sanctioned yet. Such brazen, harsh comments about a match official, in such a public forum, will not be looked upon too kindly by FIFA. As much as both players should be sanctioned, and even suspended, for such comments, do not expect FIFA to have the bottle to sideline Argentina's captain and goalkeeping hero for the semi-finals. Instead, we will most likely get a clap-back press release and a monetary sanction against the Argentine FA. The Argentina players were clearly over-loaded on emotion, and adrenaline, after the tense, drawn-out victory. Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez was in tears, post-match, as he relieved a white-knuckle quarter final ride. https://twitter.com/AlbicelesteTalk/status/1601347436148322304 Up next, a Croatia team that have already won two penalty shoot-outs in this World Cup. Related articles:
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