‘Messi said disrespectful words and that disappoints me’: Wout Weghorst, Netherlands’s striker
One of the many defining images from this world cup has been Leo Messi’s behaviour. He has harangued opponents, argued with referees, handled the ball, spray verbal volleys to Dutch dugout and even told an opponent on live television: What are you looking at fool, go away’.
A quote that has already becoming part of the football pop culture with coffee mugs and T-shirts being printed with the original quote in Spanish, “Qué mirás, bobo? Qué mirás, bobo?… Andá para allá”. Mercado Libre, an Argentine merc store headquartered in Uruguay, has already added a variety of the merchandises with the phrase on its online store. It has mugs ranging between $1.500 to $3.000, while the t-shirts prices as far up as $3.800.
The recipient of that backlash was Netherlands’s striker Wout Weghorst. And he has now said his side of the story.
Messi 🤬😂
“Que miras bobo”
“What are you looking at you fool” #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/T9eItrMihX
— Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) December 9, 2022
“I wanted to shake his hand after the game. I have a lot of respect for him as a soccer player, but he threw my hand to his side and didn’t want to talk to me. My Spanish isn’t very good, but I He said disrespectful words and that disappoints me,” he told the Dutch media.
He was ushered out the mixed zone Enzo Fernández, Lautaro Martínez and Kun Agüero to avoid another altercation with Messi. In the video, Woghurst is seen saying in English that he just wants to shake hands with Messi.
FIFA opened a disciplinary case against Argentina for its players’ actions following their ill-tempered World Cup quarterfinal match against the Netherlands. The football governing body cited “order and security at matches” in its disciplinary code for charging the Argentina football federation.
