After Argentina star Lionel Messi received a red-card during the Copa America clash against Chile and slammed South American football governing body CONMEBOL, Brazil coach Tite opined that the Argentine superstar needs to have more respect and ‘accept when he is beaten.’ The incident took place when Argentina was playing against Chile for the third and fourth position in the tournament and Messi clashed with Chile’s Gary Medal. Both the players were handed red cards in the 37th minute of the match.

Messi was handed his first red-card in 14 years and the decision did not go well with the striker as he bashed CONMEBOL, saying the whole tournament was set up for Brazil’s win.

“The one I treated as extraordinary, as extraterrestrial, needs to have more respect and accept when he is beaten,” Goal.com quoted Tite as saying.

Despite Messi absence, Argentina managed to overcome Chile 2-1 to secure the third position.

In the semi-finals, Brazil defeated Argentina by 2-0 margin on July 3.

Tite also stated that they also suffered in games because of referees and played a fair game against Argentina.

“We were harmed [by referees] in several games. We played fair against Argentina the whole time. I am being honest. He put huge pressure [on] because of his reputation,” he said.

However, Tite did admit that Messi only deserved a yellow card at max.

“He was expelled in an unfair way. It was Medel. For him, it was a yellow card, at max,” Tite said.

Brazil defeated Peru by 3-1 in the Copa America final to lift the title on Monday.

First Published: Jul 08, 2019 16:23 IST