Former Argentina striker Sergio Aguero is not a happy bunny with referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.
The Spanish official for the Albaceleste's quarter-final clash against the Netherlands has a reputation for enjoying the spotlight. It seems like King Kun agrees, with the referee dishing out cards not just to those on the field… but on the pitch, too.
"How this referee likes to attract attention, my God," Aguero posted on Twitter.
Este arbitro como le gusta llamar la atención Dios mío . 🤦🏽♂️December 9, 2022
And it seem as if the whole of social media is in agreement with the ex-Manchester City forward.
Match is getting chippy. Lahoz already carding people on the bench. The stage is being set for him to do something so ridiculous and hilarious.December 9, 2022
What’s more inevitable than Messi magic, you ask? Mateu Lahoz handing out yellow cards to individuals that aren’t even playing…December 9, 2022
Excited to get to 80mins at 1-0 and for Lahoz to have to manage pure Argentina shit-housing pic.twitter.com/Q19v8NbR1ZDecember 9, 2022
feels like there’s a whole lotta lahoz left in this quarterfinal yetDecember 9, 2022
Lahoz taking all the spotlight, I feel like I’ve seen this film once or twice beforeDecember 9, 2022
Lahoz 💀 he just wants to be involvedDecember 9, 2022
Rather than the game exploding into life, both the Netherlands and Argentina played cautiously in the opening stages of the match to feel each other out. We had a feeling it would, too – BBC pundit Pablo Zabaleta declared the 2014 semi-final between this pair as “boring” and a game he could barely remember, it seemed as though history could well repeat itself with without a single shot on target in the opening 20 minutes.
The first effort of either side was a wild shot from distance from Lionel Messi whacked wildly high and wide, with Steven Bergwijn hitting one wide a couple of minutes later. The quality stepped up nicely, though – and naturally, it was the Argentina captain who supplied the magic.
Messi managed to jink away from oncoming Dutch defenders with effortless ease before sliding a gorgeous pass through the lines and onto wing-back Nahuel Molina of Atletico Madrid for one of the most memorable assists of the World Cup so far.
The winner of the Netherlands and Argentina faces Croatia in the semi-final next week.
