Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez accused reporters of ‘generating controversy’ ahead of Argentina’s World Cup quarter-final against Switzerland.
Argentina are hoping that Lionel Messi can once again inspire them to victory in the early hours of Sunday morning and set up a semi-final clash against either England or Norway.
The reigning champions began their World Cup campaign in style by easily topping their group but have found the knockouts trickier, only narrowly beating Cape Verde and Egypt.
They’ve also come under heavy scrutiny from fans, with some going as far as to accuse FIFA referees of rigging the tournament in their favour.
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While such accusations are baseless, many agree that Messi was extremely fortunate not to be sent off for a bad foul in their opening match against Algeria, in which he scored a hat-trick.
And against Egypt, where Argentina came from two goals down to win in injury time, the Pharaohs had a goal controversially disallowed by VAR for a foul in the build-up.
Mostafa Zico, who scored the disallowed goal, said post-match: ‘It is clear that this tournament has been fixed,’ while the Egyptian Football Association have filed a complaint to FIFA.
None of this is bothering Martinez however, who was left less than impressed with a journalist’s question at Argentina’s training ground.
‘No, absolutely nothing,’ the United centre-back told reporters when asked whether he had any comment on the standard of refereeing at the World Cup, as quoted by Reuters.
‘I think they are doing an excellent job. That’s something for you [the media], who sometimes generate the controversies.’
The 28-year-old finished with: ‘We concern ourselves with giving our best on the pitch and nothing more,’ before sharply walking off.
Martinez has started all but one of Argentina’s five games at the tournament, getting a goal and an assist in the 3-2 win over Cape Verde.
His performance against Egypt was strongly criticised however, but he is looking forward to the challenge of the quarter-final.
‘As always, what identifies this team is respecting the opponent,’ the Red Devil said.
‘If Switzerland are at this stage, it’s because they have a lot of merit. We watched their match against Colombia and they always try to play.
‘They are very strong physically and also in set-pieces. I think it will be a great spectacle because both teams try to play.’
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