Lionel Messi's remarks towards Wout Weghorst in the aftermath of Argentina's heated World Cup quarter-final clash against the Netherlands have been printed on t-shirts.
After a Friday night full of drama at the Lusail Stadium – a game that featured the most bookings in any game in World Cup history – an agitated Messi called out Weghorst for looking at him.
In fact, the Argentina captain referred to the Burnley forward as a “bobo,” meaning silly, fool or idiot.
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Before starting his post-match interview with TYC Sports, he said: “What are you looking at, silly? Go over there."
Moments later and the heated exchange spilled over into the tunnel, where Weghorst could be seen arguing with Lisandro Martinez, Lautaro Martinez and members of Argentina's backroom staff.
Ten days later and, after Argentina managed to pip France to the trophy after a memorable World Cup final, it appears the Argentina camp have decided to splash out on t-shirts featuring Messi's now-famous "Que Miras, Bobo?" quote.
Nicolas Tagliafico posted a picture of a staff member wearing the t-shirt on his Instagram story.
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And in a separate post on the social media platform, Argentina forward Alejandro Gomez held aloft the World Cup trophy while wearing Messi's quotes.
Instagram account cestmocro posted the images alongside a detailed description of the t-shirt fiasco.
"The quarrel between Wout Weghorst and Argentina players is still high," it read. "There are even printed shirts with the text that Messi called towards Weghorst. Nicolas Tagliafico shared on Instagram a photo of staff member Juan Cruz Souto wearing a shirt with the text 'Who are you looking at? What are you looking at? Walk on, bobo.
"Weghorst explained himself that he did not intend to fight at all after the quarterfinals. He said: 'I wanted to give him a hand after the game, because I have a lot of respect for him as a footballer. But he slapped my hand away and wouldn't talk to me. And he spoke - although my Spanish is not that good - disrespectful words.'"
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TYC reporter Esteban Edul, who spoke to Messi after the final whistle, shared a first-hand account of what happened.
“After the game, they were all bickering in the locker room, not just Messi,” he told Argentine newspaper Ole.
“[Virgil] Van Dijk was falling out with [Nicolas] Otamendi. It looked like a Lanus-Banfield or a Newel’s-Central, but it had more mouth because they were world stars.
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“Most of Messi’s anger was about the penalty shootout, when the Dutch bothered the Argentines. The 19 [Weghorst] was waiting in the tunnel.”
According to Edul, the verbal spat between Messi and Weghorst took place long before his interview with the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Edul had to intervene and stop Messi in case the heated Argentina forward said something he might have later regretted.
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The reporter claimed that Weghorst had approached Messi with a request of getting his shirt, but it was at that point the Argentina captain started to “warm up.”
He claimed that Weghorst, who is currently on loan at Turkish side Besiktas, “didn’t understand” and even “stopped” while Messi “insulted” him.
“He [Weghorst] approached Messi and asked him for his shirt. It was from there that Leo started to warm up,” Edul explained.
“The Dutch player didn’t understand, he stopped and Messi insulted him. He insulted him much more before the start of the interview during which he was a little calmer.
“He was so angry he didn't look at me or listen to my questions. I asked him about his incredible pass for [Nahuel] Molina and he told me about [Louis] Van Gaal, FIFA… I couldn’t ask him.
“At one point, while we were on the air, I said to him, ‘Quiet, Leo,’ because there were a lot of people from FIFA and you never know what can happen. It’s a memory that will live on forever.”
Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Netherlands, Football World Cup
Jack Kenmare