Paolo Guerrero (40), legendary striker and captain of Peru, castigated the referee’s leniency with Lionel Messi during the meeting in Argentina (1-0), Tuesday as part of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Peru lost to Argentina (1-0) on Tuesday after a superb inspiration from Lautaro Martinez receiving a pass from Lionel Messi. And if there is not much to say about this superb goal, the captain of the Peruvian selection deplored refereeing that was too favorable to the world champions. The very experienced Paolo Guerrero (40 years old) attacked the Colombian Wilmar Roldan guilty, in his eyes, of having had the untimely whistle to sanction his team, especially when they got too close to Messi.
“No one says anything because it’s Messi”
“I don’t know what your analysis and diagnosis is on this match, but physically I believe we were on the same level,” the striker told Movistar Deportes. “It’s a bit difficult when the referee conditions you, he puts you in. They hit us but didn’t commit a single foul, on the other hand you touch Messi with your finger and he calls a foul. Nobody says anything because it’s Messi.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or also complained about the sometimes heavy-handed preferential treatment reserved by his opponents. He particularly got angry with defender Carlos Zambrano, glaring at him before saying: “What are you doing, stupid?” (“que haces bobo?”), as an echo of his now iconic retort (“que miras bobo?”) given to the Dutchman Wout Weghorst during the 2022 World Cup.
In his speech after the meeting, Paolo Guerrero not only mocked the superstar’s great ability to fall. He also reframed his teammates who were at fault, according to him, for having lacked aggressiveness and not having asked him enough in attack.
“We didn’t dare to play enough,” he regretted. “I know their midfield pressure is very intense, but I think we could have played and shot a little more. Let’s be more aggressive, let’s play, let the ball run. We could have created more situations.”
“Several times, I was one-on-one with their defenders, I went diagonally so they could throw me and that’s what left me a little hungry,” he concluded. “On other occasions I could say that Argentina surpassed us, but not in this match. To lose like that, to leave empty-handed, it hurts a lot. I could have had a little more situations, at least less competitive in speed with their defenders but they didn’t throw me much and I finished with the feeling of not having played.”
