Ralf Rangnick didn’t hold back after Austria’s 2-0 loss to Argentina on Monday. The coach was especially fired up about Lionel Messi’s first goal, which he believes should have been called back for a foul. And he wanted to know why the ref was willing to check the monitor for Argentina’s penalty but not for what happened the other way.
The play in question came when Alexis Mac Allister went in hard on Austria’s Xaver Schlager near midfield. The ball ended up with Messi, who finished past the keeper. Rangnick watched the replay and saw a clear foul. The officials saw something else.
“For the first goal, I would’ve asked the fourth official to do what he did before the penalty kick. He should have looked and he would’ve seen what everyone saw, a foul on Schlager,” Rangnick said after the match. “It was annoying.”
Messi finished with two goals on the night, moving him past Miroslav Klose as the all-time leading World Cup scorer with 18. He also missed an early penalty after a VAR review, which kept Austria in the game for a stretch. But once Messi got his first, the match tilted.
Rangnick: Messi doesn’t need much to decide a game
To his credit, Rangnick didn’t pretend his team could have done much more to stop the 39-year-old forward. “This is Lionel Messi. He doesn’t need many situations to actually decide a match,” Rangnick said. “If someone is 39 years old and can score two goals and five overall at the beginning of the World Cup, that makes a difference.”
Messi’s second goal came off an Austria mistake in the back, which Rangnick owned. “We participated in the second goal, that’s our own fault,” he said.
Still, the first one stung. And the inconsistency with how VAR was used bothered him more than the loss itself. Austria had already beaten Jordan 3-1 in their opener and came into the Argentina match feeling good about their group position. They still have a chance to advance heading into their final group game against Algeria.
Rangnick said he was generally happy with how his team played, especially in the second half when they controlled possession more than most people expected. “I would’ve asked my players to be braver, to shoot during the second half. We were in control of the ball,” he said. “I think in the second half we put in a top performance.”
But the frustration over that first goal isn’t going away anytime soon. Austria could be looking at the officiating decision as a what-if moment if they end up falling just short of the knockout rounds.
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