"He wanted to take it off on the pitch and I told him..."
Former Chilean judge Carlos Chandia is remembered with an interesting story. Idman.biz reports that Lionel Messi was given the chance to play in 2007's Copa America final with Brazil in exchange for his match-worn shirt by a former referee..
Chandia showed a yellow card to Leo despite an obvious foul late in Argentina's 3-0 win over Mexico.
He explained it like this: " There was no goal-scoring chance for the Mexican team or anything like that. So, I told him: 'This is a yellow card, but it will cost you your jersey,' and I didn't show him the yellow card. There were two-and-a-half minutes left, and the score was 3-0. Showing him a yellow card would have taken away his chance of playing in the Copa America final. He gave me the shirt in the dressing room afterwards. In fact, he wanted to take it off on the pitch and I told him: 'No, no, no, no; take it to the dressing room'. And he came to the dressing room with the jersey and left it there for me."
Despite Lionel Messi playing for Argentina in the final, the team could not win due to the referee's stubborn zeal. Albicelesta lost to Brazil 0:3 in the decisive match.
İdman.biz
