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Belgium coach claims referee was easy on Lionel Messi, Argentina in FIFA World Cup 2014 clash

Belgium coach said all the decisions favoured Argentina in FIFA World Cup 2014 clash.

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According to the Belgium coach, Lionel Messi was involved in three fouls, but was not cautioned even once © Getty Images
According to the Belgium coach, Lionel Messi was involved in three fouls, but was not cautioned even once © Getty Images

 

Brasilia: Jul 6, 2014

 

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots said in Brasilia on Saturday that Italian referee Nicola Rizzou had gone easy on Lionel Messi during the their FIFA World Cup 2014 quarter-final clash against Argentina. The South Americans ousted the Europeans 1-0 to advance to the semisemi-finals for the first time in 24 years. Gonzalo Higuain scored the winner in the eighth minute.

 

Wilmots told the post-game media conference: “I don’t want to be a cry baby, but every time there is a little foul it was always in favour of Argentina. Every time something happened with Messi, the referee gave him a free kick.”

 

“I notice he made three fouls and no yellow card; we made one foul and one yellow card,” Wilmots added, reports Xinhua.

 

Higuain’s goal came when Belgium centre-back and captain Vincent Kompany was caught out of position.

 

“We make a small, small mistake — Vincent comes out of position and they score,” said Wilmots, adding, “We were not impressed by the Argentinians. They were just an ordinary team. They took 30 seconds to take a throw-in and the referee didn’t do anything.”

 

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