‘Now the kids sometimes annoy me with it'

Lionel Messi was a different kind of mood during the World Cup match against Netherlands and had a war of words with Dutch striker Wout Weghorst during his post-match interview following the match.

The Argentine talisman was heard saying "What are you looking at, fool" during his interview with an Argentinian television. During an interview with Diario Ole, Messi was asked about the interaction which went viral and he said that now his children mimic what he had said.

Messi

"Que miras bobo"

"What are you looking at you fool" #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/T9eItrMihX; Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) December 9, 2022

"Yes, yes. Now the kids sometimes annoy me with it. And when something happens or they fight between themselves or argue, they use it. But the truth is that it was an ill-tempered moment and after that happened, I didn't like seeing myself that way. And it went viral the way it did, I didn't think of anything," Messi said.

"It was a heat of the moment, a very ill-tempered match due to everything that was said before, and also what was said during the match and how it ended," he added.

After scoring the second goal, the skilful South American ran to the Dutch bench, stood directly in front of Van Gaal and cupped his ears, mimicking the "Topo Gigio" celebration popularised by and associated with former Argentinian playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme.

Although he had never personally been coached by Louis Van Gaal, the Dutch coach's comments in the run-up to the last eight duel between Argentina and the Netherlands had clearly irked the talismanic No.10.

"I had seen what Van Gaal said before the game and a team mate had shown it to me. And the truth is that it bothered me, it bothered me because I never disrespected anyone, coaches nor players. I never talk about anyone, much less before a game. It had bothered me because I had spoken with great respect of him. I didn't like it and that came out at the moment."