World Cup viewers felt referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz gave Lionel Messi an easy ride as Argentina beat Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
Messi avoided punishment for several incidents throughout the match, including one where he deliberately handballed and would usually have been booked. He was eventually shown a yellow card in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time, which could and probably should’ve been his sending off.
Spanish ref Lahoz, who regularly officiated Messi when throughout his Barcelona career, was accused of being a “fanboy” by many fans. One tweeted: “How’s Messi not got a yellow the ref is actually a fanboy.”
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Another wrote: “Yo Messi could stamp on a Dutch player’s head and this ref would yellow card the Dutch player never seen such a fanboy ref.”
A third argued: “The ref in this game is having a shocker. He’s clearly a Messi fanboy!” And a fourth echoed: “Seriously this ref being such a fanboy of Messi is shocking! Being treated completely different to every other player.”
“This Messi fanboy ref it’s making me sick,” added one. And another commented: “Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz. No doubt on first name terms with Messi!”
What did you make of the referee’s performance? Let us know in the comments section.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
However, Messi wasn’t impressed with Lahoz despite repeatedly being spared by him. Speaking post-match, he said: “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 previously made the headlines with Lahoz when he booked him for honouring the late Diego Maradona in 2020 by taking off his shirt, as per the rules.
(Image: Getty Images)
The official later admitted: “When I put my hand in my back pocket to pull out the yellow card against Lionel Messi, I got really sick of my heart. I think FIFA should make exceptions to this rule.”
Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez was also infuriated with Lahoz, who dished out 15 yellows card as the South Americans won 4-3 in the penalty shootout after the Dutch had come back from 2-0 down in normal time.
“The referee was giving everything to them. He gave 10 minutes for no reason,” slammed Martinez. “He just wanted them to score. Hopefully we don’t have that ref any more, he’s useless.”
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