Assuming That VAR Officials Turn A Blind Eye In Brazil Vs Argentina Match, Tite: Impossible They Didn't See Otamendi's Elbow Hit Raphinha

Tite (Instagram @titecoach)

JAKARTA - Brazil was held to a 0-0 draw by Argentina in the 2022 World Cup qualifying match in San Juan, Wednesday morning. However, Brazil coach Tite criticized the decision of the official to take charge of the video assistant referee (VAR).

Tite felt Argentine defender Nicolas Otamendi should have been punished for elbowing winger Raphinha in the first half.

The pair scrambled for the ball near the goal line and Otamendi was seen elbowing the Leeds United winger in the face. Raphinha fell but Otamendi then picked him up for the game to continue.

FIM DE JOGO!

🇧🇷 0x0 🇦🇷 | #BRAxARG #Eliminatórias pic.twitter.com/1RKhaKdwTz

— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) November 17, 2021

Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha appeared to receive messages from his teammates in the VAR cabin but took no action and this angered the normally calm Brazil coach.

"Cunha an extraordinary referee", said Tite in a rising voice. "Referees need a team and those in VAR it's impossible not to see Otamendi's elbow hit Raphinha".

"A high-quality VAR official can't handle this. It's inconceivable. Inconceivable is not the word I want to use. I use it because I'm polite".

Tite remains pleased with the outcome of a game in which he was forced to field his youth team since taking charge of Brazil in 2016.

The loss of Neymar to injury also affected the performance of the new front lines of Vinicius Jnr, Matheus Cunha, and Raphinha.

"We lost an extraordinary player, Neymar, and we had to restructure the team, which relies heavily on quality players like Messi", he told reporters.