Thiago Silva has slammed Lionel Messi for his conduct during Argentina’s victory over Brazil.
The Barcelona superstar scored the only goal of the prestige friendly in Saudi Arabia, reacting fastest in the 14th minute, converting the rebound after Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker had saved Messi’s penalty.
Messi, making his return from a three-month international ban having accused tournament organisers of fixing the Copa America in Brazil’s favour, was also involved in the game’s most controversial moment when he told Selecao coach, Tite, to ‘shut it’.
PSG defender Silva accused Messi of showing signs of disrespect and believes the 32-year-old is guilty of trying to referee matches on his own and place too much pressure on the officials.
‘He wanted to rule over the game,’ said Silva. ‘He kicked two people and the referee did nothing. I argued with the ref and he kept laughing. You have to put admiration to one side. He always looks to force the referee to give them free-kicks in dangerous areas, he always acts in that way. We spoke with some players who play in Spain and the same thing happens, he looks to control the game and the referee’s decisions.
‘In the Champions League he doesn’t have that advantage because the referees are tougher. You don’t see him trying to rule so much. There are referees that, because of their admiration for him, start to weigh in on his side. That we didn’t have Neymar on our side was a disadvantage. It’s hard to understand when we talk about respect on the pitch, and one of the most admired players in the world does that, you don’t do that to an older person but being that it was a coach. As much as there is rivalry, respect has to come first.’
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