“It’s unbelievable that an Argentine referee was in charge of our game” – Pepe on Portugal’s defeat to Morocco

Portugal defender, Pepe has criticised the center referee, Facundo Tello after their shocking World Cup exit at the hands of Morocco.

Fernando Santos’ men came into the game as the favourites, after thrashing Switzerland by 6-1 in the last 16. A game that saw Ronaldo came in from the bench. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner started from the bench for the second time in a row.

Moroccans, who have only conceded one goal during their historic run to the last four, kept their European counterparts at bay throughout a disciplined first-half display. And then when the chance presented itself, they grabbed it with both hands as Youssef En-Nesyri headed into an empty net following a misjudgement from Diogo Costa.

Portugal felt they deserved a penalty after Bruno Fernandes fell to the floor under the challenge of Achraf Hakimi. The Argentine referee, Tello waved away the protest and continued play.

“It is unacceptable for an Argentine referee to referee us today after what happened yesterday, with Messi and Argentina talking.” Pepe said after the game.

“I’m not saying it’s conditional, but what did we play in the second half? Anything. Their goalkeeper was always stopped, only added eight minutes of injury time” the former Real Madrid defender added.

Manchester City’s defender Ruben Dias said his team were denied a “very clear” penalty by Tello: “He raised the decisions of the game. He didn’t smile at us, but the team was there, the attitude too. We tried to do everything we could.

“Penalty shot? It seemed very clear to us. It ended up scoring the game. A draw at that time it made everything go back to square one,” he told Record.