Argentina threw away a 2-0 lead after going up 2-0 in their Copa America opener on Saturday night, and captain Lionel Messi was furious over this collapse.
So much was his anger and disbelief in his team's disappointing collapse, as written by Ben Hayward of Goal, that he refused to accept the Man of the Match award after the game, having been chosen as the recipient due to his impressive display.
La Albiceleste clashed with Paraguay in La Sarena, a match where the Barcelona front man took center stage. He played an influential part in the 1st goal, scored by Sergio Aguero, before doubling Argentina’s lead through a penalty.
However, Gerardo Martino’s side conceded twice in the second half to throw away three points only to settle for one, which may prove costly to their title hopes given that their next opponents are defending champions Uruguay.
After the final whistle, a representative of the MasterCard, tasked with handing out the Man of the Match award in the tournament, visited the Argentina dressing room in order to hand the four-time Ballon d’Or winner the award.
Messi was in no celebratory mood, though, and thus refused the award, as did the rest of his national team-mates following the upsetting outcome of the game.
As stated in the report, after no Argentine player accepted the award, the representative of MasterCard had decided on handing out the award to one of Paraguay’s two goalscorers of that night.
The award eventually went to Nelson Valdez, the man who began La Albirroja remarkable comeback.
This incident is reminiscent of when Lionel Messi was award the FIFA Golden Ball accolade back in the 2014 World Cup, with the player showing no sign happiness at receiving the award after seeing his team lose the final in extra time.
Despite the Blaugrana ace's latest actions. the Daily Mirror reveal that he is unlikely to face any fines over the incident.
