Inter Miami battled out a 3-3 draw at San Jose Earthquakes in a key Major League Soccer on May 14 at PayPal Park.
Despite putting up an intense fight for the full 90 minutes, both sides had to settle for a draw and split a point each, as Inter Miami stay fifth in the MLS table with 22 points from 12 matches.
The match also witnessed a rare moment of Lionel Messi losing his composure on the pitch. Following the final whistle, the Argentine icon approached referee Joe Dickerson, with a furious response.
Messi was unhappy with the referee, as Dickerson didn’t call a foul near San Jose’s penalty box, and then decided against awarding him a free-kick.
The referee did not pay much heed to Messi’s protests and immediately handed him a yellow card.
However, the first booking was not enough to hold back Messi, who continued to remonstrate, but he avoided being sent off.
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Lionel Messi’s avoids red card vs. San Jose
As Messi persisted with his arguments, reports from SPORTbible indicate just how close the 37-year-old was to a dismissal after being told to ‘walk away’.
“Do you want me to send you off? Walk away!” said Dickerson.
Messi had to be held back by the San Jose coaching staff, with head coach Bruce Arena intervening to prevent him being sent off.
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In his post-match press conference, Arena addressed the incident with the referee and mentioned he just wanted to stop Messi from overstepping.
“As you know, there’s a universal language when you’re talking about referees. He was obviously not happy. And I really wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to get a red card, and that’s why I just tried to move him out of the way.
“For him to get a red card at the end of the game would have been ridiculous. So I wanted to make sure we get him out of there so he’s ready to play the next game for Miami.”
Messi & Co. will return to MLS action on May 18 against Orlando City at Chase Stadium.
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