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The coach of the Netherlands Louis van Gaal, the Dutch striker Wout Weghorst, the referee of the quarter-final of the Argentines against the Batavians (2-2 AP, 4-3 TAB) Antonio Mateu Lahoz: all were the target of superstar Lionel Messi, in a rare state of anger, despite the qualification of the South Americans for the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, this December 9 in Lusail.
From our special correspondent in Lusail,
« What are you looking at, silly? But what are you looking at, silly? Go go away! With a murderous gaze, Lionel Messi interrupts himself in the middle of an interview with Argentinian TV. Who is the striker attacking a few minutes after qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Cup 2022 ? To striker Wout Weghorst, a double goalscorer for the Netherlands, as some media have suggested? “Their number 19 [Weghorst, Ndlr] came and started to provoke us, to push us around, to tell us things “Explained the Argentinian, from the final whistle.
► To (re) read: World Cup 2022: Argentina defeats the Netherlands and joins Croatia in the semi-finals
Still, the superstar was furious, this December 9 in Lusail, during and after this breathless quarter-final (2-2 AP, 4-3 TAB). Hurt by a remark from Louis van Gaal on his lack of involvement in the game without the ball, the five-time Ballon d’Or went to taunt the coach of the Oranjes after scoring from the penalty spot. He turned to the opposing bench and put his hands behind his ears, the Topo Gigio, a gesture popularized by his former partner Juan Roman Riquelme. The latter had struggled to win at FC Barcelona when van Gaal was the coach, between 2000 and 2003 … Messi, he in any case went to say what he thinks of the technician and his staff, after the encounter. It took an intervention from ex-midfielder Edgar Davis to calm things down.
“The referee was against us”
Lionel Messi, however, was not only after the Netherlands team. He displayed cold anger towards the referee, even in a press conference, more than an hour after the final whistle. An Antonio Mateu Lahoz who distributed 17 cards during this meeting, including 9 to the Argentines. ” The referee was like that the whole game, he was really against us “, dropped the number 10 of the Albiceleste. He felt that the Spaniard was not ” at the height ” of the event…