Around the Bernabéu: Real Madrid’s Casemiro tells Lionel Messi to shut up
By Ben Sundock
íOn today’s edition of Around the Bernabéu, we talk Real Madrid preseason, Lionel Messi’s rash comments on officiating at the Copa America, and more potential loan moves that could happen before the end of the summer.
Lionel Messi calls out Copa officiating, Casemiro and Dani Alves disagree
Lionel Messi has become very good at leading his nation of Argentina to the brink of glory to only come up short in the semifinals or finals. He has done it time and again over the last 15 plus years where he has been unable to win any significant hardware for the Argentine’s.
Once again, Messi failed to show up in the Copa America, managing to score just one goal and provide one assist in the entire tournament. He capped off his woeful performance in the tournament by receiving a red card in the third-place match against Chile.
Instead of accepting responsibility for his team’s shortcomings – which he captains – the FC Barcelona player instead decided to place all the blame on the pitch conditions in Brazil, the officiating, and the entire South American confederation being rigged to help Brazil win the competition.
Mind you, Brazil has not won a major trophy in 12 years and was defeated 7-1 in the semifinals of the World Cup they hosted back in 2014 by Germany before losing in the runner-up match to the Netherlands.
Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro kept quiet in regards to Messi’s comments following his side’s 3-1 victory in the final over Peru, telling the press, “Those with a mouth can say what they want. It’s not up to me to speak, it’s a delicate subject. It’s not for me to say if the refereeing was good.”
Messi’s former teammate at Barca, Dani Alves, was more candid in his remarks on the situation.
"“I can only say that I don’t agree with him [Messi],” Alves explained in the mixed zone on Sunday evening. We have worked a lot to achieve this success, but I can understand that he’s upset. I don’t agree with him that this Copa America has been bought.”"
Sorry Lionel, but sometimes you don’t win and you have to respect responsibility for your shortcomings. Throwing wild accusations around is unbecoming and unprofessional.