Messi gets in face of Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, blasts ref after Argentina's win
Argentina may have gotten the win, but they sure weren’t too happy after advancing past the Netherlands in an epic World Cup quarterfinal.
A tense game boiled over late in the regulation 90 minutes and remained heated through a penalty kick shootout, and while both teams seemed quite mad at one another, Lionel Messi singled out referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz for some harsh words.
“I don’t think he was up to the standard. He was very harmful for us," Messi said after the game.
Messi wasn’t alone in showing ire towards Mateu Lahoz. Emiliano Martínez referred to the referee as “useless” in a post-game interview of his own, listing off calls on fouls and stoppage time as particular points to dispute.
“The ref was just giving everything for them,” said Martínez. “He gave 10 minutes [stoppage time]. For no reason, 10 minutes. He was giving free kicks outside the box for them, like two, three times. He just wanted them to score, that’s basically it. So hopefully we don’t have that ref any more, he’s useless.”
Mateu Lahoz wasn’t the only target for Argentina after the match. Messi made a point to seek out Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal shortly after Lautaro Martínez had fired the game-winning spot kick home.
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What seemed at first glance to simply be a brief post-game chat turned out to be Messi trying to make something very clear to van Gaal, who looked a little surprised but had no further reaction as Dutch legend Edgar Davids was among the pack making sure things didn’t escalate.
Van Gaal, incidentally, had other things on his mind, telling reporters following the match that the loss would be the end of his tenure with the Dutch national team. Given that the 71-year-old van Gaal had come out of retirement in 2021 to take the job, it may be his swansong as a professional coach anywhere.
Elsewhere at Lusail Iconic Stadium, Messi was still going. He broke off from his post-match interview on the field to shout abuse at the scorer of the Netherlands’ two goals, Wout Weghorst.
“What are you looking at, stupid?” Messi was heard saying.
It’s the latest bit of drama from Argentina, who never make it easy on themselves. They started their tournament off with a shock loss to Saudi Arabia, and though they eventually won Group C, it was a close-run thing. In the round of 16, they appeared to have given themselves an easy win over Australia, until losing control of the game and having to sweat out a nervy final 20 minutes.
Next up for Argentina in the semifinals? A tough Croatia team that seems completely comfortable with a game getting aggro and also operates under the apparent belief that soccer can only be settled with extra time.
Contributing: Associated Press