This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
On July 3, 2019, Argentina's Lionel Messi expressed his frustration with the referee's performance in their 2-0 loss to Brazil in the Copa America semifinal.
Messi, a 32-year-old Barcelona star, felt that the referee, Roddy Zambrano, favored the Brazilians throughout the game.
He pointed out that a goal was conceded early in the game, and a penalty was not awarded to Argentina after Sergio Aguero was brought down.
Goal.com reported that Messi said, '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.'
He also criticized the referee for not checking the VAR, saying, 'They [the officials] had booked a lot of bullsht, but they didn't even check the VAR, that's incredible.'
Messi emphasized that the referee's biased decisions distracted Argentina from the game, saying, 'That happened all over the game. At the first glance of contact, they ruled in their [Brazil's] favour and this kind of bullsht distracted us from the game.'
Despite Argentina's efforts, they were unable to score a single goal, with Aguero looping a header onto the crossbar and Messi slamming a shot into the post.
