Lionel Messi, who won the World Cup, said he was sorry for the fight between Argentina and the Netherlands in their controversial quarter-final.
Messi talked to Buenos Aires radio station Urbana Play on Monday for the first time since he won the World Cup in December. The captain of the Albiceleste talked about his team’s fight with the Dutch, which the South Americans won in a penalty shootout. There were a record 17 yellow cards, and Messi got one for arguing.
Messi stood in front of Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and put both hands to his ears when he scored from the penalty spot during regular time. After the game, he made hand gestures at the Dutch bench and made fun of striker Wout Weghorst, who scored twice to help his team make a late comeback.
“I don’t like what I did, I don’t like what happened afterward,” Messi said.
“These are times when there is a lot of stress and nerves. It happens very quickly, and people react how they do. It just happened without any planning.”
There were a lot of questions about that quarter-final. Before the game, Van Gaal said that his team was better prepared for a penalty shootout than the other team.
He also said, “Messi didn’t touch the ball” in the 2014 World Cup semi-final between the two teams, which Argentina won on penalties.
Messi said that his teammates told him what Van Gaal said to motivate him.
Messi said that his conversation with Weghorst was “natural.”
“That’s how I felt. There had been a lot of tense moments with this player, like these… Messi said, “I was in the mixed zone, and it had just happened.” “I hate to leave that impression, but things like that happen.”
Messi also said that Argentina was “generally better than our opponents,” and he said that the team’s second match in the group was “the toughest.”
Messi said, “It was the worst game we ever played because there were so many ways to win or lose.”
Argentina’s 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their first game was one of the biggest surprises in World Cup history. They had to beat Mexico 2-0 to stay in the tournament, which they did.
Messi said that he has not seen the final match against France again. The last time Argentina won the World Cup was in 1986. This was their first title since then.
“Everything has changed for me since that day,” he said. “By chance, so many of our dreams came true. I wanted that so much over the course of my career, and in the end, it happened.”
When asked what he would tell the young Messi if he could, the star said, “Something amazing is about to happen. You’ll have a beautiful path with some hard parts you’ll have to get through, but don’t give up on your dreams, because in the end, you’ll get what you really want. Your movie will end happily.”
