VIDEO. During and after the laborious qualification against the Netherlands for the semi-finals of the World Cup on Friday, Lionel Messi will have been annoyed several times, attacking the Dutch and the referee on several occasions, even in locker rooms…
A game that is too tight or even brutal and a world star who gives in to pressure? In any case, this is the image that Lionel Messi will have sent back during Argentina’s World Cup quarter-final this Friday against the Netherlands. The Albicelste pillar was annoyed several times throughout the match, against the Dutch but also against the referee of the match, and even allowed himself particularly inelegant spades towards the opposing team and its coach Louis Van Gaal in front of cameras around the world.
Lionel Messi notably rushed to the Dutch bench after his penalty scored during the match, placing his hands behind his ears to “chamber” the opponent. His main target: Louis Van Gaal, coach of the Oranje, who had had the audacity to point out his lack of involvement in the game without the ball before the meeting. Susceptible and vindictive, Messi did not fail to taunt the technician in the middle of the match. It took ex-midfielder Edgar Davis to intervene to calm things down, after Van Gaal and the whole Dutch bench got up to ask for an explanation. “I don’t like those who talk before the game. Their number 19 kept looking for us throughout the game. I am always respectful. Van Gaal was not respectful towards us”, said he explained, unwelcome, after the meeting.
On several occasions during the quarter-final, the camera will also have shown a Messi in full discussion with the referee of the meeting, the Spaniard Miguel Mateu Lahoz to whom he blamed several errors. “People saw what happened. I believe that FIFA must take care of this, they cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to it”, he further argued after the shock.
“What are you looking at, fool?”
But it was after qualifying, precisely, that Messi’s nervousness probably shocked the most. During a post-match interview on Argentine television in the hallway leading to the locker room, the Pulga got angry with an off-field player. It would be Wout Weghorst, author of the two goals for the Netherlands. “What are you looking at, fool? What are you looking at, fool? Images which have also been widely broadcast, not really enhancing the image of the fivefold Ballon d’Or.
This match between Argentina and the Netherlands will not have really shone by its fair play, with more than fifteen cards in total and several altercations. If the suspense scenario was able to seduce with the equalization of the Oranje in stoppage time, we will especially remember the multiple bad gestures from Argentina, in particular those of a Paredes in butcher mode, who voluntarily sent an overpowered strike towards the bench opposing touch after a gross foul on Nathan Aké. There were also many provocations in the central circle during the penalty shootout, but also after, the Argentines very visibly taunting their opponents, collapsed after their elimination.
After a delicate group stage and a defeat against Saudi Arabia, Lionel Messi and the Albiceleste remain in the race to win the title of world champion, the only major title missing from Lionel Messi’s record for the definitely bring in as maybe the greatest player of all time. We hope that if he goes to the end, it will be with another mentality.
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Short biography of Lionel Messi – Lionel Messi is an Argentinian international footballer who plays for his training club, FC Barcelona. Talented, the Catalan club striker has an exceptional record crowned by a Ballon d’Or won four times. It was in the team of the Argentinian club Newell’s Old Boys that Lionel Messi discovered football. While he is only 12 years old, the young boy displays an abnormally small size since he measures only 1.11 m. The medical profession detects a disease of hormonal origin which will require the administration of growth hormones. The career of this promising player then depends on the success of the treatment. Unfortunately, therapy is expensive and Lionel Messi’s parents can’t afford it. In 2000, the Messi family decided to flee an Argentina in full economic bankruptcy and went into exile in Barcelona in Spain.
Lionel Messi is 13 years old and he is invited by FC Barcelona to try out. Very quickly detected by Carles Rexach, former footballer of the club, the young striker joined the blaugrana training center. Nicknamed the ‘Pulga’ (the chip) because of his small constitution, Lionel Messi is undergoing medical treatment in order to strengthen himself. In 2004, the player took his first steps in La Liga and wasted no time in revealing his talent to fans and the general public. Gradually, Lionel Messi established himself as one of the greatest footballers of his generation. His rise is meteoric and does not suffer from any challenge. The footballer’s record is impressive: 4 Champions Leagues, 7 Spanish championships, 3 Spanish cups… and above all 6 Ballons d’Or.
Lionel Messi married Antonella Roccuzo in the summer of 2017. The couple met when they were 8 and 9 years old, in the neighborhood of Rosario, Argentina. While the player had joined Spain and Barcelona, the girl was studying dietetics at the University of Rosario. Antonella Roccuzo will wait until 2010 to join her lover and formalize their relationship. The couple have 3 children, Thiago, Mateo and Ciro.
The playmaker has won everything with his Barcelona club: 10 Spanish league titles, 4 Champions League, 6 Spanish Cup or 3 Club World Cup. The big downside of his career was a clean list of any trophies with his Argentinian selection before his Copa America victory in 2021. At the individual level, Lionel Messi won six Ballon d’Ors, the last in 2019.
Argentinian star Lionel Messi receives €30 million net per season, including one million in cryptocurrency. If he honors his contract at PSG until 2024, he will pocket at least €110 million thanks to a loyalty bonus. If he plays well for three seasons in the capital, he will therefore earn €30m in 2021-2022, then €40m the following two for a total of €110m over three years. These emoluments do not take into account collective bonuses for objectives and results in particular.