Lionel Messi. yunhap news
Qatar’s 2022 World Cup semi-finalists were all covered last weekend. Croatia, strong in extra time, overcame champions Brazil, while Lionel Messi’s Argentina defeated the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Both matches were close matches going to penalties.
Morocco, protagonist of the storm, sent home both strong points of the Iberian peninsula by winning the quarter-finals against Portugal after the round of 16 match against Spain. In the European rivalry, which was rated the best match in the quarter-finals, France laughed and England cried when Harry Kane missed a penalty.
As fierce as the match was, the battle of nerves was fierce.
In particular, in the quarter-finals between Argentina and the Netherlands, yellow cards came out 18 times (the official FIFA website record is 16). There were players or managers booked not only on the pitch but also on the bench.
Players from both teams engaged in a war of nerves several times during the match. Denzel Doomfries of the Netherlands was sent off for accumulating yellow cards after receiving a card even after the match ended.
Argentina signing Lionel Messi showed enthusiasm during an interview with Argentine media in the mixed zone after the win.
Messi raised his voice: “What are you looking at? You idiot. Get out of here now”, and it was confirmed that these were the words thrown at Dutch striker Baut Behorst, who scored two goals in the last minute of the second half and extended the game into overtime.
Behorst later told local Dutch press: ‘After the match, I asked Messi to shake hands. But Messi didn’t accept and was rude to me. I didn’t understand what he meant because I didn’t speak Spanish well, but I stayed very disappointed”.
According to Messi’s interview, he was dissatisfied with Holland, especially with coach Louis van Gaal, even before the match. Coach Van Gaal said in an official press conference before the match: “Messi doesn’t help the team when he doesn’t have the ball.”
England and Portugal, eliminated, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the referee’s decision.
After England’s 2-1 defeat by France, defender Harry Maguire said: “We played better but the judges misjudged. Some decisions were against us.”
Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernands stressed that there was an incomprehensible decision in the quarter-final match against Morocco, and that the referee served as the Argentine referee. He raised suspicions that he intended to push Argentina.
