TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran coach Carlos Queiroz hit out at referee Milorad Mazic in his side's 1-0 World Cup loss against Argentina in Belo Horizonte on Saturday.
Two-time World Cup champions, Argentina, beat Iran's national football team 1-0 with a 90 minute goal by Lionel Messi in the two teams' second match in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil on Saturday after the referee overlooked a penalty foul on Iran's Ashkan Dejagah in the second half.

 

The Iran coach stressed that the Barcelona man was not the only one to make the difference, however, as he feels the referee cost his side a valuable draw and perhaps even more, after refusing to award them a penalty following a challenge from Pablo Zabaleta on Ashkan Dejagah.

"At the end, two individuals made the difference in the game. The first was the referee and the second was Lionel Messi," Queiroz told reporters.

"We needed a fair decision there. The referee was standing from metres away from it, noticed that it was a foul, but did not do anything. The worst thing was the referee's level and his poor decision. I am proud of my players, though," the Iran coach stressed.

However, Queiroz reserved words of praise for Messi following his decisive strike toward the end of the encounter.

"In order to be the best player in the world, you will have to be a great human being as well. Today, we saw what a player with Messi's qualities can do. He rose to the occasion when it mattered most," he underlined.

The chance is still much in play for Iran's national football team, but now they'll almost certainly have to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in their last match on Wednesday.

Argentina leads Group F with six points, while Nigeria have four, Iran have one and Bosnia-Herzegovina have zero point.

Argentina play Nigeria and Iran play Bosnia-Herzegovina in third round in group F on Wednesday.

By Fars News Agency

 

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