'What are you looking at?' - Lionel Messi takes pop at Wout Weghorst, confronts Louis van Gaal at World Cup
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Published 10/12/2022 at 09:30 GMT
‘The Battle of Lusail’ at the 2022 World Cup will live long in the memory after a penalty shootout, 16 yellow cards and the spiciest of on-pitch brawls. Oh, and Lionel Messi calling someone a “dummy” in his post-match interview. Oh, and Emi Martinez telling Louis van Gaal to “keep his mouth shut”. Oh, and the Argentina players celebrating wildly in front of the crestfallen Dutch. What drama!
Lionel Messi confronts Louis van Gaal after the penalty shootout
Image credit: Getty Images
Lionel Messi confronted Louis van Gaal after Argentina’s spicy shootout victory over the Netherlands in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals, while he also paused an interview to reportedly call Dutch almost-hero Wout Weghorst a “dummy”.
An extraordinary match, already dubbed ‘The Battle of Lusail’, saw the Netherlands fight back from two goals down to force extra time courtesy of a brace from substitute Weghorst.
But Emi Martinez denied Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis from the spot as Argentina booked a semi-final with Croatia, who stunned Brazil on penalties earlier on Friday.
That was not the full story, however. Far from it.
A game already bubbling with animosity after Van Gaal’s pre-match comments, suggesting Messi could be Argentina’s weak link when the Netherlands had possession, exploded into life when Leandro Paredes smashed the ball into the Dutch bench in the 87th minute at 2-1.
It sparked a huge brawl as referee Mateu Lahoz, who issued an astonishing 16 yellow cards during the match, struggled to keep control.
The bad blood continued into extra time and penalties, with Argentina wildly celebrating in front of the Dutch players after Lautaro Martinez had rifled home the winning spot kick.
Messi then approached Van Gaal on the pitch while gesturing with his hand that the 71-year-old talked too much. And he wasn't quite done.
In a post-match interview, Messi turned his attention to someone behind the camera, reportedly Weghorst.
"What are you looking at, dummy? Go back there, dummy. Get away from here," he said.
Messi also criticised the Dutch and Van Gaal for their tactics during the match, before giving a thinly-veiled opinion on the referee.
"Van Gaal says that they play good football, but what he did was put on tall people and hit long balls," said Messi.
"I don't want to talk about the referee because you can't be honest. If you talk they sanction you, FIFA must think about it, they can't put a referee like that for these instances, they can't put a referee who isn't up to the task."
Emi Martinez also gave an extraordinary interview, claiming referee Lahoz "wanted the Dutch to score" before telling Van Gaal to "keep his mouth shut".
“The ref was giving everything for them,” he said.
“He gave 10 minutes for no reason [injury time], he gave a free-kick outside the box for them like two-three times.
“He just wanted them to score, that’s basically it, so hopefully we don’t have that ref anymore because he’s useless.”
He added: “I heard Van Gaal saying, ‘we’ve got an advantage in penalties, if we go to penalties we win’. I think he needs to keep his mouth shut.”
Van Gaal stepped down as Netherlands boss following the shootout defeat – 16 months after his surprise return to the dugout.
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