Wilmots blasts ‘ordinary’ Argentina’s spoiling tactics
BEATEN Belgium boss Marc Wilmots hit out at ‘ordinary’ Argentina’s spoiling tactics after his side crashed out of the World Cup last night.
Gonzalo Higuain’s early goal was enough to settle the contest but Wilmots was unimpressed by Argentina’s time-wasting and also claimed Lionel Messi was given an easy ride by Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli.
The Belgium coach said: ‘We were not impressed by the Argentinians, they were just an ordinary team.
‘They can distort the rhythm, they take 30 seconds to take a throw-in and the referee doesn’t do anything.
‘They had the goal, and Messi was one-on-one with (Thibaut) Courtois at the end but how many shots have they had? If I played that way I would have been destroyed by the Belgium press.
‘They didn’t give us any space, this was a World Cup quarter-final and their extra experience probably counted for something.’
Wilmots said the referee had favoured Argentina and in particular Messi. ‘I don’t want to be a cry baby, but every time there was a little foul it was always in favour of Argentina,’ he added.
‘Every time something happens with Messi the referee gives him a free-kick. I notice he made three fouls and no yellow card — we made one foul and one yellow card.’
Higuain’s goal came when Vincent Kompany strayed from his position and the Napoli striker scored with a first-time shot.
Wilmots said: ‘We make a small, small mistake, Vincent comes out of position and they score.
‘I’m very proud of the boys, I have told them: “You guys are the youngest of all the last-eight teams”. There was a great deal of emotion, some of my staff were crying.’
Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said his players had made some history after they reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.
‘After 24 years, this is a good tribute to this squad — they will go down in history as one of the best four teams in the world and we will see if they can go one step more,’ he said
Sabella also praised Messi’s contribution in a midfield role. ‘I felt he played a wonderful match,’ he added.
‘It’s not only scoring goals, it’s having possession, taking out three opponents and every move he makes is a sign of hope for us and endangers our opponents.
‘That a player like Messi almost never loses the ball is water in the desert.
‘Today, when the terrain was dry, he gave us that breath of fresh air every time he had the ball.’