Lionel Messi regrets his actions in a heated World Cup match against the Netherlands

Lionel Mes­si has expressed regret over his behav­ior dur­ing Argenti­na’s vic­to­ry over the Nether­lands in the Qatar World Cup quarter-finals.

Mes­si and his team­mates were crit­i­cized for their actions after win­ning the penal­ty shootout fol­low­ing the 2–2 draw on 9 December.

The Paris Saint-Ger­main star ran up to Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and put his hands to his ears in cel­e­bra­tion after scor­ing a 73rd-minute penalty.

Mes­si claimed after the game that the fan girl was “dis­re­spect­ing” Argenti­na in his “pre-match comments”.

“I knew what Van Gaal said, but it just hap­pened to me,” Mes­si told Andy Kus­netsov’s ‘Per­ros de la Calle’ in Paris. talking.

“I hate what I did, and I hate what hap­pened next. At times like this, I get ner­vous and it all ends so quickly.”

The Argenti­na cap­tain was spot­ted argu­ing with Juan Goal and his assis­tant Edgar Davids in time.

Mes­si was also report­ed to have yelled at Dutch strik­er Wout Wegord in a post-match inter­view: “What are you look­ing at, you idiot?” come back”

Mes­si, mean­while, said he had no oth­er choice, despite the long wait for the World Cup.

Argenti­na beat France on penal­ties at the World Cup in Qatar to win Mes­si’s fifth World Cup and first in 36 years.

“If I had to choose that moment, it would be this moment,” Mes­si said. Clos­ing the “wheel” is at the end of his career.

“With the nation­al team, I have achieved every­thing that I have always dreamed of. I have per­son­al­ly achieved every­thing in my career. My career end­ed in a unique way.

“When I start­ed, I nev­er imag­ined this would hap­pen and it’s been amaz­ing to get to this moment… no com­plaints, could­n’t ask for more.

“We won the Copa Amer­i­ca [2021] and the World Cup, so there’s noth­ing left.”

Mes­si says he hopes to see his first World Cup win since Diego Maradona helped Argenti­na win the World Cup in 1986.

Maradona, who coached Mes­si in the 2010 World Cup, died in Decem­ber 2020.

“I want­ed Diego Maradona to give me the (World) Cup, or at least watch it,” Mes­si said.

“It was only nat­ur­al to see Argenti­na become world cham­pi­ons, con­sid­er­ing how much he want­ed it and how much he loved the nation­al team. In the same way, I think he gave me strength from above.”