Posted by Argentina captain Lionel Messi has expressed apologies for his team’s behavior during their 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final match against the Netherlands in Qatar.
Remember that Messi guided Argentina to a 4-3 penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands after a 2-2 deadlock.
Messi’s first controversial moment came after scoring Argentina’s second goal, when he cupped his ears and stood defiantly glaring at Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal.
It was a nod to ‘Topo Gigio,’ the cartoon mouse who inspired Argentina icon Juan Roman Riquelme’s nickname.
Riquelme and Van Gaal famously clashed at Barcelona, with the former being pushed out by the Dutchman.
Messi told MD’s Andy Kusnetzoff that he did not like his celebration during Argentina’s match against the Netherlands.
“The truth is that no,” stated the Paris Saint-Germain forward (I did not prepare it). It did not sit well with me. It came out of nowhere, and yeah, I remembered what he had said before the game. ‘Did you see what he said?’ some of my teammates asked.
“We got 2-0 and then at the time, I don’t like what I did, what happened later with the ‘off you go, dumb’ [anda pa’ ‘lla bobo],” the former Barcelona captain continued. This is a time of high tension and anxiety; everything happens rapidly and you don’t have time to think about anything. Actually, nothing was planned; it just happened that way, and as I said, it’s not the image I want to project.”
Messi went on to win the Golden Ball award as the World Cup’s best player.