The referee handed out more than a dozen yellow cards when Argentina faced Holland
Mateu Lahoz will reportedly not be officiating any of the remaining games at the World Cup as he “heads home from Qatar”, according to a report from COPE.
💥 Informa @partidazocope
🔚 Termina la participación de Mateu Lahoz en el Mundial tras el PaÃses Bajos – Argentina
🛫 Regresa de vuelta a España
📺 Los árbitros VAR (Hdez Hdez, MartÃnez Munuera y De Burgos) con opciones de actuar en algún partido más
📻 #COPEMundial pic.twitter.com/ytpWYFdPAy
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) December 11, 2022
The referee’s final game was the fiery quarter-final clash between Argentina and Holland on Friday where the Mail said he dished out 15 yellow cards in the 2-2 draw. The Mirror said 17 yellow cards were issued, as well as 48 fouls in a performance that was widely slammed. ESPN said a record 18 yellow cards were handed out.
Argentina’s players were particularly vocal about the official’s performance, with Lionel Messi leading the criticism, while careful not to overstep the line, saying: “I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened.
According to MailOnline, the 35-year-old continued: “I think Fifa must take care of this, it cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to the task.”
Argentina keeper Emi Martinez joined was also highly critical of Lahoz, saying:Â “The referee was just 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 that ref anymore. He’s useless.”
The Mail said Fifa was not allowing Lahoz to officiate in the semi-finals or the final.
Argentina face Croatia on Tuesday as they look to book a place in the World Cup final.
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