Ronaldo always ends up getting the blame but i am seeing players who play amazing for their clubs but soon as they put on a Portugal shirt they forget how to play football.
🚨Toni Kroos on Lionel Messi Tackle on the Algerian Player:
“Looking at that challenge, it’s clear as day that should have been a straight red card for Lionel Messi. I’ve watched the replay multiple times, and the way he goes in with his studs showing, catching the Algerian player high on the leg while the ball is already gone, it’s a dangerous tackle. You can’t tell me that’s not worthy of a sending off in any other circumstance.
I understand that Messi is a special player, one of the greatest of all time, and referees sometimes give him the benefit of the doubt because of the kind of football he plays graceful, intelligent, and rarely malicious. But favoritism has its limits. Algeria was clearly robbed on this one. The referee bottled a big decision that could have changed the course of the game.
If it had been any other player not Messi doing exactly the same thing, it would have been a clear red card without hesitation. We’ve seen it happen countless times with lesser-known names who get punished harshly for similar lunges. This kind of inconsistency in officiating is what frustrates fans and players alike, especially in high-stakes international matches.
I feel for the Algerian team they were cheated out of a fair result today. Football should be about merit and the rules applying equally to everyone, regardless of superstar status. Messi is a legend, but legends don’t get a free pass to put opponents in danger like that.”
Bro we’ve seen Cristiano Ronaldo score a World Cup hat-trick against Spain in a game where Portugal went behind three separate times.
Now I’m supposed to be moved by a hat-trick vs Algeria in a one-sided game? 😭
And don’t get me started — Lionel Messi should’ve been sent off. This is a fugazi hat-trick.
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As brilliant and utterly irrepressible as Lionel Messi is, there have been a few occasions during his illustrious career when opponents — and certainly opposition fans — have suggested that he has received “special treatment” from referees.
What is certain is that, between scoring his first and second goals against Algeria, he got lucky. A challenge on Algeria captain Aissa Mandi, who was caught by Messi on his right calf and Achilles tendon, could have earned at least a yellow card — and plausibly a red card — but Polish referee Szymon Marciniak was content to award a free kick.
It was a strange incident. Mandi was in control of the ball, going nowhere fast, and there was little prospect of dispossessing him from Messi’s position. To make a lunge like that, with his studs up, seemed incomprehensible, never mind dangerous.
Special treatment? At the very least it was lenient refereeing. A yellow card would perhaps have been the most widely expected outcome — a red card second — but Messi was certainly lucky to get away scot-free.
✍️ @OliverKay
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16 games in the World Cup so far and we have only seen 2 penalties given
Just to put it in context, Argentina got 5 in 7 games in 2022. Yeah, it wasn't rigged 🤣🤣