Lionel Messi in FIFA World Cup 2022© AFP
Lionel Messi made memories for a lifetime in Qatar as he went on to lift the FIFA World Cup title with Argentina. The team’s road to the final, however, wasn’t as smooth as Messi would’ve liked. Particularly in the quarter-final, Argentina’s match against Netherlands created plenty of headlines, especially for non-football reasons. Even an infuriated Messi was seen lashing out at Netherlands striker Wout Weghorst, calling him a ‘fool’ during an interview. The Dutchman has not hit back at the Argentine.
Weghorst, whose twin strikes in the match forced the game into extra-time, and then penalties, was the difference-maker for the Dutch side after coming on from the bench. However, Messi and his Argentina teammates weren’t happy about what the Dutch boss Louis van Gaal had said about them. Even some of the Netherlands players’ on-field antics hadn’t gone down well with the South Americans.
QUÉ MIRÁS BOBO
ANDÁ PA ALLÁ BOBO pic.twitter.com/s2D1lbOhj5— DjMaRiiO (@DjMaRiiO) December 9, 2022
Opening up on the incident, as quoted by En Son Haber, admitted that he had some ‘tense moments’ on the field with Messi.
“For me, everyone is the same in a match. I fight. That’s what I did in that match. I had some tense moments with Messi in the match and maybe he was surprised. I respect him a lot, he’s one of the best ever. After the game I wanted to show Messi the respect I have for him, but he wasn’t very open to it. Now at least he has learned my name.”
At the time of the incident, Weghorst had revealed that Messi had even refused to shake his hand. He had said: “I went to shake his hand after the game. He has not accepted it and has said something rude to me, but I do not understand Spanish very well. I’m very disappointed.”
Messi’s Argentina went on to go all the way in the tournament, defeating France in the final on penalties after the scores were tied 3-3 at the end of extra-time.
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