Referee easy on Messi: Belgium coach

Brasilia, July 6 (IANS) Belgium coach Marc Wilmots said here Saturday that Italian referee Nicola Rizzou had gone easy on Messi during the World Cup quarterfinal.

Argentina ousted Belgium 1-0 to advance to the semis for the first time in 24 years. Gonzalo Higuain scored the winner in the eighth minute, reports Xinhua.

Wilmots told the post-game media conference: "I don't want to be a cry baby, but every time there is a little foul it was always in favour of Argentina. Every time something happened with Messi, the referee gave him a free kick."

"I notice he made three fouls and no yellow card; we made one foul and one yellow card," Wilmots added.

Higuain's goal came when Belgium centre-back and captain Vincent Kompany was caught out of position.

"We make a small, small mistake - Vincent comes out of position and they score," said Wilmots, adding, "We were not impressed by the Argentinians. They were just an ordinary team. They took 30 seconds to take a throw-in and the referee didn't do anything."