Lionel Messi pointed his finger at and cursed the referee in a terrible match

(Dan Tri) - Messi had an ugly reaction to the referee in the unforgettable match with Paraguay in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers this morning (November 15).

This morning (November 15), Argentina suffered a 1-2 defeat against Paraguay in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Although Lautaro Martinez scored an early opener for La Albiceleste, they still let their opponents come back with two goals from Sanabria and Alderete.

Messi pointed and said bad words to referee Anderson Daronco (Screenshot).

This was a match where Messi played very poorly in the context of being surrounded by Paraguayan players too tightly. In the whole match, superstar number 10 only had 1 shot (off target). He touched the ball 67 times but lost the ball 14 times.

Not only that, Messi also left a bad image after this match. The cause started from the situation where Messi was stopped by Paraguay defender Omar Alderete (who had received a yellow card before) in the 37th minute.

The Argentine players believed that Omar Alderete had committed a foul that deserved a card. If so, the Paraguayan player would have been sent off. However, referee Anderson Daronco decided to just give Omar Alderete a warning.

That made the members of Argentina feel dissatisfied. However, referee Anderson Daronco did not change his decision. At the end of the first half, Messi went to talk to the referee. He emphasized the referee's mistake in not sending off Omar Alderete. The captain of the Argentina team even pointed at the referee's face and said something.

Messi had a terrible match against Paraguay when he lost the ball 14 times (Photo: Getty).

According to lip analysis, Messi said to referee Daronco: "You are a coward. I don't like your decision." That shows El Pulga's anger. If referee Daronco had sent off the Paraguayan player, Argentina would have had a big advantage. Ironically, Omar Alderete was the one who raised the score to 2-1 for Paraguay.

This is not the first time Messi has been "furious" with the referee. In September, the number 10 superstar argued with the referee, Ramy Touchan. This player used words like "bastard, bastard" to refer to the referee.

Or at the 2022 World Cup, Messi criticized referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz (who officiated the match between Argentina and the Netherlands). He said: "We were scared before the match because we know what kind of person Mr. Lahoz is. I think FIFA needs to reconsider this. They should not arrange for him to referee important matches. He is not qualified."

However, even after losing to Paraguay, Argentina still maintained the top position in the 2026 World Cup qualifying round in South America with 22 points, 3 points more than the second-placed team Colombia.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/lionel-messi-chi-thang-mat-chui-boi-trong-tai-trong-tran-dau-cuc-te-20241115132804085.htm