Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is normally known as a more reserved player. The playmaker, now 35, isn’t exactly flashy or loud off the field. However, Messi showed a more ruthless side after his team’s World Cup quarterfinal win against the Netherlands on Friday.
Messi had a goal, an assist and converted his penalty to guide Argentina to the semifinals. After the epic match, the superstar was seen getting into a rather heated argument with Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and assistant coach Edgar Davids.
The discussions continued in the tunnel
The debates between the two sides seemed to continue in the tunnel after the game. In fact, the video also showed Messi barking at someone during his post-match interview with Argentine television.
The superstar explained the issues to reporters during the interview. “I feel disrespected by Van Gaal after his pre-game comments and some Dutch players talked too much during the game,” Messi said.
Before the confrontation, Van Gaal had stated that Messi does not help his teammates when he is out of possession. The star player countered these comments by criticizing the Dutchman’s tactic.
“Van Gaal sells that he plays football well and then he goes ahead in the area and starts shooting long balls,” Messi said. “We deserved to go through and that’s what happened.”
The cheeky referee of the match was also heavily criticized
Along with the comments about Van Gaal, the player was also not happy with the match referee Antonio Mateo Lahoz. The peculiar Spanish referee handed out 17 yellow cards in total throughout the historic match. Messi even suggested that FIFA should remove Lahoz from future matches.
“I don’t want to talk about referees because later they penalize you, but people saw what happened,” Messi said. “I think FIFA should take care of this. You cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to the task”.
Argentina will now face Croatia in the World Cup semifinals on Tuesday, December 13.
Photo Credit: IMAGO/PA Images
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