Messi sees red as Argentina top Chile, finish 3rd

Sao Paulo, July 7

Lionel Messi was shown only the second red card of his career as Argentina beat Chile 2-1 in a hot-tempered Copa America third-place play-off. The Barcelona forward had provided the assist for Sergio Aguero’s opener before Paulo Dybala made it 2-0. But Messi was shown a red following a clash with Gary Medel, which also saw the Chile player dismissed.

Arturo Vidal scored a second-half penalty but Argentina held off the fightback to secure third place. However, the big talking point was undoubtedly the marching orders given to Medel and Messi — who has never been sent off for Barcelona, and whose only other red card was on his international debut 14 years ago.

Tension had been building as the game wore on in a physical encounter with both sides often giving away niggly free-kicks.

Tempers spilled over eight minutes before half time when Messi appeared to nudge over Medel as they both challenged for the ball.

Medel responded by forcibly pushing his face into Messi’s as the two players argued before the referee arrived and dismissed them both.

It seemed harsh on Messi, who in the replays of the incident did not appear to respond aggressively to Medel’s action. Chile had also lost Alexis Sanchez to injury early on. The Manchester United forward appeared to suffer a hamstring injury when chasing a long ball over the defence.

Messi blasts CONMEBOL

South American football governing body CONMEBOL hit back at Argentine superstar Lionel Messi after he accused the body of corruption.

“It’s unacceptable that as a result of incidents that are a regular part of competition... unfounded and untrue accusations have been launched that call into question the integrity of the Copa America,” said CONMEBOL on its social media accounts.

Earlier, Messi was scathing in his attack on CONMEBOL and the competition’s referees after Argentina felt aggrieved for the second match running.

He even accused the governing body of favouring hosts Brazil. “Corruption and the referees are preventing people from enjoying the football and they’re ruining it a bit,” Messi said.  “I think there’s no doubt that Brazil are going to be champions. The Copa is weighted towards Brazil,” he added. 

Argentina felt they were denied two clear penalties in their 2-0 defeat to Brazil in the semifinals, the refere  had refused to consult VAR. — AFP