Lionel Messi sounds off on ‘bull****’ officiating following Brazil loss

Argentina forward Lionel Messi has criticised the level of officiating at the Copa America after his side crashed out of the competition following a 2-0 loss to Brazil on Tuesday.

Goals from Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus and Liverpool's Roberto Firmino were enough to seal a win for the hosts as Messi's long search for silverware continues with Argentina. La Albiceleste have not won a Copa America title since 1993 yet Messi feels that his side were not outplayed by Brazil who scored twice from just three shots on target.

"They were not better than us. They found the net early and the second goal came from a penalty [to Agüero] they didn't award," Messi told reporters. "They [the officials] had booked a lot of bullshit, but they didn't even check the VAR, that's incredible.That happened all over the game. "At the first glance of contact, they ruled in their [Brazil's] favour and this kind of bullshit distracted us from the game. There is no excuses for us, but we need to review this, analyse it and let's hope CONMEBOL does something about it."

Messi retired after Argentina's shortcomings in the 2016 Copa America, before returning to the national team and guiding the country to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and he has allayed fears of a second retirement by insisting that he wants to continue playing international football.

"If I can still help in any way, I will continue to do so. I feel really good in this group," said the 32-year-old. "This is a good, talented generation who showed that they love the national team. They have a future and great foundations, they just need to be given time."