You are talking about the same play and

I agree with your view of it.

Having said that, I also agree that Argentina has gotten a suspicious number of calls in their favor and that had the tables been reversed a penalty may have been awarded for the shirt tug “foul.” I hate conspiracies but the Messi non-call has me a bit torqued up. I just can’t see how any official or VAR did not at least raise it to the level of a yellow card. By the book, it was a red but there was a lack of courage. It happens and it stinks.

I will say that the part of the game I get most frustrated with when I talk to my fellow Americans who do not follow the sport is trying to explain that futbol is a physical game. A certain amount of hand fighting, shoulder to shoulder collisions, and bodying is allowed. All I get back is the mindless stuff I have been seeing in the BackRoom which goes something like “soft soccer playing flopping pussies” No lover of soccer likes flopping but to not appreciate the elite physical condition and strength these guys have is crazy. Imagine having to body Lukaku or someone like Drogba back in the day? Fuhgetabout it.