Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez called referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz “useless” and advised Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal to “keep his mouth shut” after his team’s thrilling 4-3 victory over Netherlands in the penalty shootout of a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 quarterfinal game.
“The referee was giving everything for them. He gave 10 minutes [added time] for no reason. 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 him that ref anymore. He’s useless,” he said of the Spanish official, who dished out a record total of 19 yellow cards, out of which two were shown to Netherlands full-back Denzel Dumfries.
Martinez went on to call Lahoz “crazy, the worst referee of the tournament, arrogant.”
He added, “You say something to him and he talks back to you badly. I think since Spain went out, he wanted us to go out as well.”
After the sides - with a 2-2 scoreline - couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes of play, the game trickled into penalty shootouts where Martinez played hero. He saved the first two penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis.
The 30-year-old Albiceleste shot-stopper added: “I heard Van Gaal saying, ‘We have got an advantage in penalties. If we go to penalties, we win.’ I think he needs to keep his mouth shut.”
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