Leo Messi is widely known for his gentle demeanor, but that doesn’t mean the Argentine superstar is always like that. He is willing to react in a way that can stun everyone.
When many people think of Lionel Messi, they imagine him twisting his way past multiple defenders with ease and scoring goals that ordinary people can only dream of. He does all of this with a humble smile on his face and appears naturally humble, which has endeared him to millions of fans worldwide.
Messi is a football legend who will likely be remembered as the greatest player of all time when he finally hangs up his boots. However, reaching such heights doesn’t come without being a fierce competitor. The Argentine wizard will do whatever it takes to win, even if it means embracing the dark side. He is a hero to many, but he has never been afraid to become a villain in the battle.
Encouragement like this is often seen on the international football field, when Messi carries the hopes of an entire nation as captain and champion symbol of Argentina. Despite not having the most intimidating physique or facial features, he never backs down from a match.
Emiliano Martinez has dubbed Messi as a “mischievous boy” after Argentina’s World Cup 2022 triumph, a fitting label indeed. The Inter Miami star is definitely not always the angelic image portrayed by the media, and GOAL will list his most shocking outbursts in the famous blue and white jersey of Albiceleste…
The content talks about Messi’s debut disaster in the national team of Argentina at the age of 18, where he was expected to become a star in Barcelona. The match was a friendly against Hungary, and Messi came on in the 63rd minute, looking energetic and ready to make an impact. However, he got into a scuffle with Vilmos Vanczak, a Hungarian defender who pulled his shirt blatantly. In response, Messi hit him on the face, earning himself a red card within two minutes of being on the pitch. It was a moment of emotional turmoil for the young talent, but not the last one.
In another match at Copa America 2016, Messi’s team easily defeated Bolivia 3-0, with Messi coming off the bench in the second half. He quickly started to influence the game with his dribbling skills and clever passes, which resulted in Jhasmani Campos of Bolivia receiving a yellow card for trying to stop him. Messi didn’t like Campos’ rough challenge and immediately confronted him by pushing his head. However, he was pulled away by his teammates before things escalated further.
The referee gave a yellow card to Campos, but Messi escaped any punishment, leaving the Bolivian midfielder feeling irritated. Campos expressed his frustration to GOAL after the match, saying, “Messi came onto the field to tease us, a talented player like him should not do what he did. He performed some unnecessary moves to tease my teammates, and that is not right. However, it’s in the past now. He is the world’s best player, and Argentina is a fantastic team. I hope they will perform well.”
According to reports, Lionel Messi’s image of being kind and humble is quite the opposite in reality. The World Cup 2018 was a nightmare for Argentina as they were eliminated in the round of 16 by the eventual champions France. Although they were lucky to make it through the group stage with a narrow win against Nigeria in their third match, they had previously lost 3-0 to Croatia and drew 1-1 with Iceland. Messi’s disappointment was evident in the match against Croatia when he got into a scuffle with Ivan Strinic in the second half while Argentina was trailing by one goal. Both players fell to the ground after colliding, but Messi was infuriated and pushed Strinic’s foot away when he got up right in front of the referee. Once again, Messi escaped any punishment. Despite Croatia’s victory, Strinic did not let it go and accused the Argentine star of not respecting his Barcelona teammate. Strinic told reporters when asked about the altercation with Messi, “He has an image of pretending to be kind and humble, but the reality is quite the opposite. He not only punched me, but when Rakitic, his friend, got injured, he refused to kick the ball out even though he was the captain.”
Messi faced off against “The Pitbull” in the Argentina vs Chile match for the Copa America 2019, which ended with Argentina winning the bronze medal. However, the match was marred by an ugly incident in the first half. After Messi unsuccessfully tried to stop an overhit pass, he and Gary “The Pitbull” Medel faced each other directly. Medel, known as one of the toughest players in South American football, successfully put his body in front of Messi. Messi then lightly pushed him after realizing he couldn’t reach the ball.
Medel then charged at Messi, and the two began physically fighting until the referee quickly intervened and showed them both red cards. This was the first time Messi received a red card since his unsuccessful debut for Argentina, but his team still won 2-1.
Messi did not appear in the medal ceremony and later spoke to the press about Argentina’s loss to Brazil in the semifinals. “There is no doubt, everything is set up for Brazil,” he said. “I don’t want to be part of this corruption. We shouldn’t have to put up with the disrespect we’ve suffered during the Copa America. We could have gone further but we weren’t allowed into the final. Corruption, referees and all the rest stopped people from enjoying the football.”
It seems that Messi still harbors negative emotions towards Brazil, as shown in a friendly match against their archrivals four months later. Messi scored the decisive goal in the match, which came from an inaccurate penalty, but he made headlines with a verbal altercation with the head coach of Selecao, Tite. Throughout the first half, Tite was seen complaining to the referee, which eventually led to Messi’s reaction. The Argentina captain then gestured to Tite to keep his mouth shut and made a hand gesture indicating that the Brazilian coach talks too much about himself.
In the end, Messi had the last laugh as Argentina got revenge on Selecao, but Tite confirmed what was said in the tense exchange between the two during the post-match press conference. “I complained that he [Messi] should have received a yellow card and he told me to keep quiet and I told him to keep quiet,” he said.
Accepting Cavani’s Challenge
A few days later, Argentina faced Uruguay in an international friendly, and once again Messi was the center of attention with his lack of self-control. Messi and Edinson Cavani were seen arguing with each other in several situations during the match, including when Messi was fouled by Matias Vecino just before half-time. The two exchanged offensive words on the pitch and continued to argue as they entered the dressing room, at which point Uruguay was leading thanks to Cavani’s goal.
Argentina then achieved a 2-2 draw, with Messi scoring from the penalty spot in extra time to equalize, but the recording of the argument between him and Cavani quickly spread on social media like wildfire.
According to South American news site Ole, Cavani asked Messi: “Do you want to fight?” The Barcelona legend then replied: “Whenever you want.”
Cavani also mentioned the argument in an interview with TyC Sports, saying: “That’s part of football, Clasicos are like that. The truth is that sometimes there is competition in the game, there are collisions, and those things are part of football.”
The quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup became one of the most intense games in the tournament’s history. With just 15 minutes left, everything seemed to be going well for Albiceleste as they led with a goal from Nahuel Molina. Messi later doubled the lead from the penalty spot, but his celebration surprised many as he rubbed his hands on his ears towards Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, who had said before the game that he had a plan to stop the Argentina captain. The Netherlands then fought back with two late goals from Wout Weghorst to force extra time and ultimately a penalty shootout, which Argentina won. After the game, Messi criticized Van Gaal’s behavior and the overall conduct of the Dutch team during the match, stating that he felt disrespected and that some players had spoken too much. He also had a heated exchange with Weghorst and refused to shake his hand after the game.
The full video of the incident was leaked, confirming Weghorst’s claims as Messi was clearly seen refusing to shake hands with him. Despite the controversy, Messi and Argentina went on to win the famous cup after defeating Croatia in the semi-finals and a thrilling final against France. After the dust settled, Messi addressed the altercation with the towering Dutch striker. “I don’t like what I did. There was a lot of tension and it just arose naturally,” he said. “A lot happened with this player and two others during the game. It just arose naturally.”
Argentina maintained their unbeaten streak for almost a year after the World Cup, but it was put to an end by Uruguay in their World Cup 2026 qualifiers on November 17. Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez scored to secure all three points for Uruguay at La Bombonera, but Messi criticized the young players in Marcelo Biesla’s team after the game. Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte was reported to have criticized Rodrigo De Paul for being Messi’s “water carrier” and making an inappropriate gesture towards Argentina’s midfielder in the first half, leading to a scuffle between the two teams.
When asked about the incident, Messi said, “Well, young players need to learn how to respect their elders. They [Uruguay] have a good group of players, a good national team, but they need to learn respect from the older players because this Clasico match is always intense, difficult, but always with a lot of respect. So, they need to learn a little bit.”
De Paul was also involved in a fight with Mathias Olivera in the 19th minute of the game, and Messi was seen pushing his forearm into the back of the Uruguayan defender and grabbing him by the neck after helping his Argentine teammate. However, Messi refused to comment on whether his actions were necessary or not. “This is normal, in games like qualifiers, it’s always like this with Uruguay,” Messi asserted. “We knew what kind of game we were going to face, a difficult game for us. They are very determined, have strong and agile people. We didn’t feel comfortable.”
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Never call Messi a coward
Argentina secured another victory in their next game, beating Brazil 1-0 at Maracana stadium to maintain their two-point lead over Uruguay in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings. However, the match was marred by violence from the stands, causing a 30-minute delay, during which Messi led his team off the pitch as police were seen responding to violent fans chanting the Brazilian national anthem.
When the players returned to the pitch, De Paul and Rodrygo were seen engaged in a heated argument. Messi intervened and appeared to pull the young Brazilian away from De Paul while holding him by the back of his neck.
According to TyC Sports, Rodrygo sparked the heated exchange by criticizing Argentina as “cowards” for retreating to the tunnel. Messi couldn’t take the ridicule and was said to have reacted with anger: “We are world champions, why are we cowards? Watch your words.”
The Inter Miami star will have a few months’ rest after a grueling year, leaving Paris Saint-Germain before embarking on a new challenge with a club in the United States. The MLS 2024 season may begin in early February, but Messi will also be focused on defending Argentina’s Copa America title in the coming summer, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he shows the dark side of his personality to help the team win more trophies.