2023 World Cup winner, Lionel Messi has described his reactions and celebration against The Netherlands in Qatar as natural but claimed to regret it.
The Argentine captain cupped his ear to the Netherlands’ bench after scoring his penalty during the game, Messi gestured to Van Gaal that he ‘speaks too much’ at the end of a match was laced with animosity.
Messi also blasted the referee who gave 18 yellow cards in the game – a World Cup record – with Denzel Dumfries dismissed after the shootout by referee Antonio Lahoz.
“I don’t want to talk about the referee because they sanction you for being honest. I think people saw what it was. FIFA cannot use this kind of referee for this type of match.
“I feel disrespected by Van Gaal after his pre-game comments and some Dutch players spoke too much during the game,” Messi told reporters after the match.
Speaking to Urban Play, the seven-times ballon d’Or winner talked about how he missed the World Cup moment, his team mates and Qatar.
“I miss my team mates, the day to day, the stay in Qatar. We enjoyed every moment.” Messi said.
“I don’t like what I did. There was a lot of tension. It came out naturally. A lot had happened with Weghorst and two others during the game. I don’t like this picture.” He concluded.