According to A Bola, Portuguese referee João Pinheiro reviewed his World Cup officiating experience in an interview, and talked about his argument with Messi during Argentina's 3-1 victory over Switzerland.
In an interview with Channel 11, João Pinheiro summarized his experience at the World Cup, noting that he did not forget the disagreement with Messi during Argentina's 3-1 victory over Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
When asked if Messi had given him a hard time, the Portuguese referee stated unequivocally: "Messi did, and so did other players. These are things that happen to players. There are these kinds of conversations in football, and team captains usually say a bit more, and the new rules allow it."
In reviewing the context, the report stated that a video leaked during the match showed Messi visibly displeased with João Pinheiro, demanding respect: "Speak to me properly, don't disrespect me." Pinheiro responded that similar situations occur in other stadiums: "What happened with Messi has happened with other players. Of course, because he's Messi, it might be seen by more people, but that's a natural occurrence in football. Referees communicate with players, and players communicate with referees; we have normal relationships. Sometimes people have different opinions on certain situations, but nothing is beyond the normal range. These things happen in the World Cup, the Champions League, leagues, second-tier leagues, third-tier leagues..."
He continued, "This happens frequently. Of course, if it were Messi or Ronaldo, people would see these situations differently, but it's perfectly normal. These kinds of conversations are even healthy because we don't need to show a yellow card for everything. He thought I did something wrong, but maybe that's not how it actually happened. We talked, and after communicating, we could understand each other. It was just a small episode in the game, and then we moved on."
Speaking about participating in such a high-profile tournament, João Pinheiro said it was a dream come true: "It's indescribable. You can only understand its significance by actually experiencing this tournament. When I officiated the first match of this tournament, I realized that I was living a dream, and that my dream was coming true. That was my toughest match, Bosnia and Herzegovina against Switzerland. The start of the match was a bit tough, but I gradually started to enjoy it."
