Copa America 2019: 'They didn't even check the VAR,' Lionel Messi rants about refereeing after semi-final loss

What's the story?

Argentina skipper Lionel Messi has hit out at the referee and urged CONMEBOL to step into the matter following La Albiceleste's elimination from the Copa America at the hands of Brazil.

In case you didn't know...

Argentina had a horrible start to their Copa America campaign as they were defeated by continental rivals Colombia, who registered their first win over the two-time World Cup winners since 2007. Following the defeat at the hands of Colombia, Lionel Messi salvaged a point against Paraguay in their second group-stage fixture to keep their title hopes alive. After defeating Qatar in their last group-stage fixture, Lionel Scaloni's men booked their place in the quarter-finals.

The runner-ups of the previous two editions of the Copa America got the better of Venezuela in the quarter-finals to book a berth in the last four of the tournament against Brazil.

Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firminho saw Brazil past Argentina in the semi-finals. Tite's men will now face Chile/Peru in the final at the Estadio do Maracana.

The heart of the matter

Following the defeat against Brazil, Argentina skipper Lionel Messi hit out at the referee for their decisions in the match. He said:

"There are no excuses for us, but we need to review this, analyse it and let's hope CONMEBOL does something about it.

"I think we played a great game. We made a great effort and they were not superior to us."

”They were not better than us. They found the net early and the second goal came from a penalty [to Aguero] they didn't award.

"They [the officials] had booked a lot of bull****, but they didn't even check the VAR, that's incredible.

What's next?

Brazil will lock horns with Chile/Peru at the Estadio do Maracana after eliminating Argentina in the semi-finals.