Barcelona Blog
Lionel Messi admitted that he regrets the incidents that occurred during and after Argentina’s 2022 World Cup quarter-final match against the Netherlands.
The Argentine national team managed to qualify for the semi-finals by penalty kicks after a tense match, where Messi entered into an argument with Dutch coach Louis van Gaal.
𝖬𝖤𝖲𝖲𝖨 𝖳𝖮 𝖶𝖤𝖦𝖧𝖮𝖱𝖲𝖳: “What are you looking at, dumby? Go back there, dumby. Get back there, yes!” 😳⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ynkTNqovOk
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) December 9, 2022
After the match, Messi appeared frustrated, despite Argentina’s victory, and criticized the Netherlands striker Wott Wieghorst, and was seen telling him in the tunnel, in the most famous scenes of the World Cup: “Keep moving, you idiot.”
However, the Paris Saint-Germain star admitted that he was not satisfied with what happened with the current Manchester United striker. “I didn’t think about it, it happened without prior arrangement,” Messi said about the incident with Weghorst, in an interview with an Argentine radio program.
He added, “My celebration in front of Van Gaal?.. I knew everything that was said before the match, and what he [Van Gaal] said.” Even some of my team mates were saying to me ‘did you hear what he said’ but I didn’t like how I celebrated in front of him after the second goal, it wasn’t my best moment.
And he continued, “Well, when it was all over, I felt like I didn’t like what I did, I don’t like when I said in the tunnel to the Dutch player ‘keep moving’ and all that stuff. But well, it’s moments of tremendous tension and intense nervousness and everything happened very quickly.”
He continued: “One reacts the way one reacts, but nothing is planned. It happened suddenly and without prior arrangement. I don’t like leaving that image, but these are things that always happen in football.
And the Argentine admitted that he never watched the final again and that the night before the match he slept well and did nothing special.
“I watched the highlights, the moments, the people’s celebrations when we became world champions, but the final match itself, the 90 minutes, I never watched again,” he said.
He also remembered Diego Maradona and confirmed that he wished the late Argentine legend to be alive to watch the final match, and Messi indicated: “I was hoping and quality, even if he did not hand me the World Cup, at least to see all this.”
Source: Marca
