Messi, Messi, and Messi!
Lionel Messi stole the spotlight the moment he stepped onto the pitch in this World Cup. After all, it was the first hat-trick of his World Cup career!
It was also the first hat-trick of this tournament. Naturally, praise for Messi is echoing everywhere. However, another topic of discussion has also emerged. Questions have been raised regarding a specific challenge made by Messi. Should he have been shown a red card?
A referee cannot simply hand out a red card on a whim; the player must commit an offense warranting it. Did Messi do something of that nature? There was indeed an incident involving Messi in the 31st minute of the match. He committed a foul against Algeria’s captain, Aïssa Mandi, who was in possession of the ball at the time.
Messi was positioned behind Mandi, with little chance of actually winning the ball from that angle. In that moment, Messi challenged from behind, striking Mandi on the calf and Achilles tendon of his right leg. The Algerian captain collapsed to the ground! Yet, Polish referee Szymon Marciniak did not even show Messi a yellow card for the incident.
Some argue that Messi should have been shown a red card. For instance, Venezuela’s Alejandro Moreno stated on ESPN that Messi deserved a red card. He said, “It was a red card. Messi definitely should have been carded. This will raise questions.”
Moreno believes that anyone committing such a foul should be sent off: “If you watch the incident live, it immediately looks like a foul. Even upon seeing the replay, it remains clearly a foul. It was an incident worth reviewing via VAR. Why wasn’t Szymon Marciniak called to the monitor to check the replay? Messi should have received a red card. No matter how much I love Messi, to be honest, that was a very dangerous and terrible tackle.” “When you drive your boot into someone’s calf—from just below the knee down to the ankle—like that, you really ought to be sent off.”
Speaking at the same event, former Manchester City footballer Nedum Onuoha said, “In my opinion, that probably should have been a red card. When the Algerian player went down, Messi clearly looked worried. He realized himself that he had done something that could have landed him in trouble.”
Onuoha added, “I assume the referee didn’t see the incident. But when the Video Assistant Referee reviewed it and said, ‘No, it’s fine, nothing much happened there’—personally, I believe that foul was worthy of a red card.”
