Lionel Messi spoke for the first time about the world Cup of Qatar this Monday, about a month and a half after the third world championship Argentinian. In an interview with the Argentine vehicle TyC Sportsthe Paris Saint-Germain player commented on the disagreements with the selection of the Netherlandsin the quarterfinals of the tournament.
let’s scream #All together…
🇦🇷🔥🏆 WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!🏆🔥🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/KoYnhTmeQC
— 🇦🇷 Argentina National Team ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) December 18, 2022
Messi is not a player who tends to get involved in controversy, on and off the pitch. During the World Cup in Qatar, however, the player was not omitted and was the protagonist of a disagreement with the Dutch.
It all started when the coach of the European team, Louis Van Gaal, poked the Argentine star before the match, remembering the 2014 World Cup semifinal, when the teams faced each other and Argentina qualified on penalties. For the Dutchman, Messi “did not touch the ball” at the time.
In the 2022 Cup match, for the quarterfinals, Argentina won again on penalties, and Messi did not fail to take satisfaction with Van Gaal during and after the duel. Afterwards, the playmaker fell out with the Dutch striker Weghorst, author of the two goals of the Netherlands in the game. While giving an interview, Messi felt provoked by his opponent and shot: “What are you looking at, silly?”.
“I didn’t think about it, it came out at the time. Of course I knew about everything they had commented on before the match, what he (Van Gaal) had said. Even some of my teammates said to me: “Did you see what he said?” , when it all ends, I don’t like what I did, I don’t like the “go there” and all that”, said the player.
“But well, they are moments of great tension, a lot of nervousness and everything happens very quickly. You react the way you react, but it wasn’t planned at all. I don’t like to leave this image, but these are things that happen”, explained the shirt 10 from Argentina on conflicts on and off the pitch.
During the game, Messi scored Argentina’s second goal, went to the midfield and, with his hands over his ears, faced the Dutch bench. The celebration is the same as that made by Juan Román Riquelme, idol of Argentina and Boca Juniors, who also had problems with Van Gaal, during his passage through Barcelona in 2002. Messi revealed that he had spoken with the former player.
“I spoke with Román (Riquelme) after the match. In fact, I always wrote after the games, I spoke with him. Not just at the World Cup, but during all the years I always speak with Román from time to time. In this World Cup, After the games we talked. He had also had some meetings with Van Gaal in Barcelona and, well, we talked a little bit about all that”, said the star.
Van Gaal collected controversies with South American players during his career. In addition to Messi and Riquelme, the coach also fell out with Argentine Ángel Di María, when he was in charge of the Manchester Unitedand the Brazilian Rivaldo, during his time at Barcelona.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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