The Argentina national team is prepping up for their quarter-final against the Netherlands on Friday 9th, December. Lionel Scaloni’s squad is motivated after their 2-1 victory over Australia, however, effort alone might not be enough for the La Albiceleste as FIFA has dealt a low blow to the team. Scaloni’s team, who are hoping to clash against their South American neighbor in a hypothetical semi-final, will have to face a big challenge now.
Apparently, FIFA chose Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz to officiate the game on Friday. Now we are not saying that Lahoz has something against Messi or co, but his way of officiating has been frowned upon by the South American side. The Spaniard is usually permissive when it comes to fouls, something that might affect the two-time World Champions. In recent times, Argentina has been focusing on scoring as much as possible from set pieces and they depend entirely on the ref’s decision to give fouls as efficiently as possible.
Lionel and Mateu in a match.In Spain, Matheu is questioned because of his permissive nature in addition to having extensive conversations with the players. The match is all set to be a strong one and it is expected that this referee will be able to officiate it well.
FIFA has already affected Argentina in their first World Cup match after some questionable offside calls on otherwise legal goals because of which they were defeated by one of the weakest teams in the World Cup, Saudi Arabia. Not only Argentina but many other teams also suffered the same issue in the 2022 installment of the World Cup due to many wrong calls by the VAR.
