Lionel Messi made a shocking revelation about Louis Van Gaal during his disputed World Cup celebration.
Lionel Messi is regarded as one of the best footballers of all time, and he capped it off with a successful campaign in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. It was the lone trophy the Barcelona icon had yet to win, but Qatar was a different matter.
Argentina’s campaign began with a 1-2 defeat to Saudi Arabia, which silenced their fans. They began the event as favorites, but their aspirations were dashed by their defeat. In the following match, an energized Lionel Messi led Argentina to a 2-0 victory over Mexico. Former PSG star (64′) unleashed a screamer, which was followed by Enzo Fernandez’s amazing first World Cup goal.
Messi missed a penalty against Poland in their final encounter, but goals from Alexis MacAllister (46′) and Julian Alvarez (67′) enabled them to achieve a 2-0 victory. They won their group and will face Australia in the Round of 16. Argentina triumphed 2-1 in the Round of 16 thanks to Messi’s goal.
They then met the Netherlands, and it was a tense match. The atmosphere before the game was very tense, especially after Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal chastised Messi. Nahuel Molina (35′) scored on a great Messi pass in the first half. Argentina then scored a penalty in the 73rd minute to make it 2-0.
After scoring, Messi dashed to the Dutch dugout and performed a famous celebration in which he covered his ears with his palms. The Dutch, on the other hand, had different ideas, as Wout Weghorst came to the rescue with two late goals in the 83rd and 11th minutes of stoppage time. Both teams failed to score in extra time, and the CONMEBOL team won the shootout 4-3. Messi recently acknowledged in an interview that he regretted his goal celebration directed at Van Gaal. Van Gaal had previously commented on Messi’s playing style and emphasized his contribution off the ball.
“I came up with the ‘Topo Gigio’ (named in honor of a cartoon character, a goal celebration in which a player puts his hands to his ears as a sign of defying someone) right there and I automatically regretted it,” he said.
“As soon as I did it, I thought, ‘What an idiot. They can still tie it.’ These things usually happen,” he further added.
Argentina easily defeated Croatia in the semi-finals, winning 3-0. Messi scored in the 34th minute and also provided a world-class assist for Julian Alvarez (39′, 69′), who scored twice. Argentina then met France in the final in Lusail. Argentina appeared to be heading for an easy win after first-half goals from Messi (23′) and Angel Di Maria (36′). But Kylian Mbappe had other ideas and saved France with two goals in the 80th and 81st minutes.
As the game entered extra time, Argentina appeared to have grabbed the winner through Messi (108′). Mbappe (118′) equalized to make it 3-3. In extra time, Emiliano Martinez made a last-ditch stop to send the game to penalties. Martinez dominated the shootout, denying Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni as Argentina won 4-2.
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