Sub 23 Olympic Pre-Olympic: the 5 stupid referees who explain the brawl between Mascherano and Argentina

THE Argentina Under 23 team AND Javier Mascherano They are angry. What seemed like a clear victory against Venezuela in the first date of the final home run of the Pre-Olympic and half a ticket for Paris 2024ended with a bitter draw, which left the team compromised, now forced to go against Paraguay AND Brazil with a decimated lineup.

The penalty for VAR sanctioned in the last minute of injury time, the result of a very questionable infringement, was the controversy that filled the patience of the national delegation, which had already silently tolerated some of the many absurdities of the tournament organization, in charge of IL Conmebol.

The first, the pathetic state of the pitch that Argentina had to deal with in the first phase, in the city of Valencia. Something that ended up costing more Bielsa’s Uruguay, the other team that bet on playing “from the bottom” and with different rhythms. The other zone, which classified Venezuela and Brazil, was played in Caracas, the venue where the final home run is taking place, with a grass more in line with that of the players who are playing. valued at tens of millions of dollars.

The other question, of course, It was the question of arbitrationwith strange designations (some announced at the last minute, as against Venezuela) and with the use of VAR only in the final home run, causing the four matches of the previous phase to have errors between the incomprehensible and the unusual, and almost always against the Argentina national team.

“It happens that in five matches in four the decisions have not been favorable to us,” said Masche after the 2-2 draw in one of the phrases that paint the national team’s mood. What was the Little Chief referring to so precisely?

The debut against Paraguay took place on the night of Nicolás Valentini’s stupid penalty and Luciano Gondou’s painful equalizer, well taken even if the corner seemed to have him in an advanced position. In addition to the goals, that evening there was a tough and aggressive match that favored the Albirroja boys, who gave their all.

Among all that flurry of kicks, pushes and premature arrivals, the DT was marked by a blow received by Pablo Solari, the River star who from that blow became one more, perhaps suffering from the disorder. For the referee it wasn’t even a foul.

Then came Peru, a match which ended in the second half with a clear 2-0 for the Argentinian boys but which in the first phase had a couple of situations which are not even seen in the YouTube videos which show curiosities of the Regional football.

Argentina was not given a punishment as childish but much harsher than that given to Paraguay a few days earlier. And if not, it’s worth remembering football Joaquin Garciapenalty for everyone except the referee and his assistant, located a few meters from the game.

But the most ridiculous thing of that evening was the goal that the same assistant annulled against Argentina, when Santiago Castro, another player from Fortín, pushed a ball thrown by Solari into the net. In the replay you can clearly see that the former Colo-Colo striker was a couple of meters away from a Peruvian who had hooked to the bottom. Nonsense at an amateur level.

Then it arrived kilos and the 5-0 made clear any shortcomings that the referees of that match may have highlighted, and finally the moment came Uruguaya national team that also had its “trouble” with the men in black (Bielsa received two yellows for protests and was unable to manage in the third match).

What is impossible to forget about that chaotic and almost honorable match which ended 3-3 and closed the qualifying phase (Argentina classified and Uruguay was eliminated) the penalty they didn’t give to Argentina when there were only a few minutes left.

Pancito Gonzalez He went to look for a central defender and the youngster Mateo Ponte appeared to take him down as he was about to hit the winning right-footed shot. Sorry! What did the referee charge? Gondou’s hand, which failed to push her and bounced off her arm. It has to be seen to be believed.

This brings us to Caracas and the final home run, now with VAR and Argentina more “at ease” with the feeling that the whistles will finally have to be more careful about sanctions.

Ecuadorian Aragon, almost always with an ugly face, had no scruples in condemning the chiquilinada of Valentine’s Day boat to throw the ball in the face of a rival and showed the red card to both the former Boca player and the poor Venezuelan who reacted in the same way. For the Argentine technical staff everything was resolved with a couple of warnings, always remembering that these are youth categories.

In the end the 2-2 that was already talked about and that all the Albicelesti still regret arrived. We will have to move on: it’s time for revenge Paraguay this Thursday from 5pm and the classic against will arrive a few days later BrazilSunday at 8pm, with the hope that this adverse pre-Olympic will end with a happy ending.