Pepe: "Because of the arrogance of the referee, I can bet everything I have that Argentina will be champion"

MADRID, 10 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Portuguese international Képler Laverán 'Pepe' has assured that it is "unacceptable" that an Argentine referee like Facundo Tello has whistled the quarterfinal match against Morocco, in which the Portuguese team was eliminated (1-0), especially "after what happened yesterday with Messi", and has affirmed that he can "bet" that "Argentina will be champion".

"Because of the feeling and the arrogance of the referee on the field, because of what he did today, I can bet everything I have that Argentina will be champion," he declared after the duel this Saturday. "We received a goal that we did not expect, but I have to say that this is stronger than me and I am going to have to say it," began his post-match statements.

Thus, he regretted that an Argentine referee can arbitrate in these instances when the albiceleste is still alive. "It is unacceptable that an Argentine referee referee our match here after what happened yesterday with Messi. All of Argentina talking and the referee comes here to whistle," he said, referring to the striker's criticism of Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.

"I'm not saying it's conditioned, but how much did we play in the second half? The goalkeeper fell to the ground. He only added eight minutes of discount. We worked seriously and the referee, eight minutes? We didn't play at all in the second half. The only team that played football was Portugal. We are sad. We had the quality to win the World Cup and we didn't. There is no anxiety, there is anger," he added.