The veteran Portugal defender Pepe has questioned the appointment of an Argentinian referee to their shock quarter-final defeat by Morocco and claimed Fifa officials “can now give the title to Argentina”.
Pepe suggested Lionel Messi’s vocal criticism of the Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz after Argentina’s penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands on Friday should have prevented an Argentinian, Facundo Tello, from taking charge of Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Morocco. Messi and the Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez said Mateu Lahoz should be dropped for the remainder of the tournament.
