Lionel Messi has admitted that he regrets his actions towards Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal during their heated 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal clash.
The first controversial moment came after Messi scored his second goal and celebrated it by cupping his ears and stood defiantly looking at the Netherlands bench.
Messi to Van Gaal 😭😭😭
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) December 9, 2022
The celebration was in reference to former Argentina forward Juan Roman Riquelme, who had a frosty relationship with Van Gaal during their time at Barcelona.
Messi and the Dutch gaffer were then spotted in what appeared to be a tense touchline exchange after the final whistle, in which the Argentine allegedly told the manager: “You talk too much.”
Speaking to Andy Kusnetzoff in an interview carried by MD, Messi admitted it wasn’t his finest moment.
“The truth is that no (I didn’t prepare it). I didn’t like it. It came out at the moment and yes, I knew what had been said before the game, what he had said. Some of my teammates told me ‘did you see what he said’ on purpose.
“We got 2-0 and then at the time, I don’t like what I did, what happened later with the ‘off you go, stupid’ [anda pa’ ‘lla bobo].
“These are moments of great tension, a lot of anxiousness, everything happens very quickly and you don’t have time to think about anything. Actually, nothing was planned, it happened like that and as I say, it isn’t an image I like to give off.”