Messi not happy with Brazilian referee after Peru game
Argentina beat Peru 1-0 at the South American Qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup 2022 and after the match held at the Monumental stadium, Lionel Messi complained about the refereeing of Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio.
"Hard game, difficult to play. A lot of wind at the ground, and they [Peru] did not leave to much space behind. Whenever this referee officiates our matches, he does the same thing. It seems that he does it on purpose. But we have three important points that bring us closer to the goal," Messi wrote on Instagram.
Peru missed a second-half penalty in a 1-0 loss to Argentina in Buenos Aires on Thursday, delivering another blow to their hopes of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
Trailing to a first-half goal from Lautaro Martinez, Peru had a golden opportunity to level the score when substitute Jefferson Farfan was brought down in the box 19 minutes into the second half as he attempted to round keeper Emiliano Martinez.
However, Yoshimar Yotun's penalty clipped the bar as the visitors fell to a seventh defeat in 12 qualifiers.
Argentina's Christian Romero had a headed goal disallowed for offside after 10 minutes and Angel Di Maria missed two good chances while Peru's Gianluca Lapadula squandered an excellent opportunity after skilfully chesting down a cross just metres from goal.
Argentina deservedly took the lead three minutes from half time when Martinez glanced a header into the roof of the net.
Peru fought valiantly in the second half but there was no way back after the penalty miss and Argentina had a second goal from Guido Rodriguez ruled out two minutes from time.
What is Messi's complaint based on? It appears that the referee was not letting the game flow and was less keen on giving advantage after a foul.
Sampaio called a total of 32 infractions and 20 of those fouls were from Peru, which ended with two players booked: Yotun and Raziel García. The Argentine National Team once again finished a match without yellow cards.
The Brazilian referee officiated the Argentine National Team five times: two ended in a draw and the rest in Argentina wins.
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