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Lionel Messi accused the referee of bias after Argentina crashed out of the Copa Am\u00e9rica with a 2-0 semi-final loss to Brazil.<\/p>\nLionel Messi accused the referee of bias after Argentina crashed out of the Copa Am\u00e9rica with a 2-0 semi-final loss to Brazil.<\/p>\n
The Argentina captain felt a number of decisions went against his side in Belo Horizonte as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino in each half put Brazil through to a final against Chile or Peru.<\/p>\n
Messi was particularly aggrieved Argentina were not awarded a penalty by referee Roddy Zambrano immediately prior to Brazil\u2019s second goal but that was only one of a number of complaints.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old told reporters: \u201cThey were not better than us. They found the net early and the second goal came from a penalty they didn\u2019t award.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe officiating was crazy. There were clear penalties, on (Nicolas) Otamendi, on \u2018Kun\u2019 (Sergio Ag\u00fcero).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (the referee) was on their side. In every divided ball or dispute, he inclined the pitch their way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not an excuse, but the truth is that, in this Copa, they kept on blowing for stupid things, for handballs, penalties.<\/p>\n
“He (the referee) was on their side. In every divided ball or dispute, he inclined the pitch their way<\/p>\n
\u201cBut today, they didn\u2019t even go to VAR when there were clear plays that should have been looked at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the result, Messi was proud of his team-mates and believes there is a bright future ahead for the national side.<\/p>\n
The Barcelona star said: \u201cIt was the best match we did in the Copa, against a Brazil that has spectacular players in all its lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese guys made a huge sacrifice. They deserve respect. Argentina has the material to keep growing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brazil captain Dani Alves admitted his side had needed to dig deep to secure the result.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cArgentina were a very difficult opponent. We needed to make a barbaric effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one more step towards our goal. Everything we aimed for from the beginning we are fulfilling but we knew it would not be easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think many people doubted us but we have a lot of trust in our work.\u201d<\/p>\n