© ANP MAURICE VAN STEEN
FIFA recently released new images about the past World Cup in Qatar. Among other things, the feud between Wout Weghorst and Lionel Messi was better portrayed.
Jens Heylen
At the last World Cup in Qatar, Argentina defeated the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on penalties. But the sporting quickly gave way to heated discussions immediately afterwards. Lionel Messi was always the protagonist. First, the Argentinian clashed with the then Dutch national coach Louis van Gaal, and then dealt with striker Wout Weghorst. During his TV interview, Messi shouted agitatedly: “What are you watching, idiot? Go back there, idiot. Yes, go back there!”, addressed to Weghorst, who, equally irritated, wanted to lure Messi out of his tent.
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Weghorst said he only wanted to shake hands with the Argentinian when both teams dived into the catacombs after the game. But it didn’t come to that. Messi did not give the Dutchman a glance and teammates also protected the Argentinian from the Orange striker. A behavior that Weghorst did not like, after which he challenged Messi in the background. And now images have surfaced of that.
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Regret
At the end of January, Messi said in an interview with TyC Sports that he regrets what happened then. “When it was all over, I didn’t like what I had done. These are moments of great tension, a lot of nervousness and everything happens very quickly. You react the way you react, but I didn’t think about it at all. It happened. I don’t like coming across like that, but these are things that happen.”
