World Cup 2022: the question about Lionel Messi that caused a tense moment between Lewandowski and an Argentine journalist

Robert Lewandowskistar of Poland and of FC Barcelona, ​​had a tense exchange with the Argentine journalist on Friday Lucas Beltramo (TyC Sports), following a question linked to the controversy that he had at the end of last year after Lionel Messi he won the Ballon d’Or, awarded by the magazine L’Équipe.

“I can’t understand your question”, started the former Bayern Munich striker, with a disgruntled face, when Beltramo asked him, in English: “With everything that was said after the Ballon d’Or, do you think you can show something of that with Messi when they shake hands at the game on November 30 or there will be no space for that? The journalist insisted that he wanted to know if he was going to be able to show “that everything is fine with Messi” after those statements. “Why not?” he replied. “Why wouldn’t I shake your hand? Everything is fine like Messi and I never had anything against him. Why are you asking this kind of question?” he continued, not hiding his anger from him.

The journalist insisted that Lewandowski had complained about Messi’s words at the time and whether that could have affected the relationship between the two. “My relationship with Messi? When I said that? Where? You must have seen it on Instagram. I never said that about him.” And later he emphasized: “Maybe you saw someone on Instagram who said that I had said that. But not me.”

The short circuit marked the press conference of the Polish star, Argentina’s rival in the third match of group C of the World Cup. But, did what the TyC Sports journalist was trying to ask happen or not.

The story has several chapters that Lewandowski now prefers to minimize (perhaps because in recent months he became a player for the Catalan club where Messi continues to be revered as the greatest historical idol).

The first episode occurred on December 7, 2021 when Messi won the Ballon d’Or, largely in recognition of Argentina’s triumph in the Copa América. It had been one of his weakest seasons at the club level, which included the transfer from Barcelona to French PSG. Lewandowski, the top scorer of the year, was in second place and frustrated at not getting the award. Especially since in 2020, the year in which he pushed Bayern Munich to win the Champions League, the award was not delivered due to the pandemic.

Messi went up to receive the award and spoke to the Pole. “You were the winner of the Ballon d’Or last year and France Football should give it to you. You were a fair winner, you should have it at home too “.

Two months later Lewandowski had revenge by winning the prize The Best, an individual distinction awarded by FIFA since 2017 and which rivals the mythical Ballon d’Or. To designate the winner, all the captains of the national teams vote, among others. Lewandowski -captain of Poland- voted for Jorginho, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; Messi -voter for Argentina- favored Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzemá.

Lewandowski did not like Messi’s vote at all and told the Polish magazine that Gray Nose. “I voted for him because I appreciate what he has done. Messi said that he would vote for me for the Ballon d’Or, but he did not vote for me for The Best. It’s his decision, but anyway, I won the prize, so it was easier for me to accept it,” Lewandoski said.

And he expanded, regarding Messi’s speech at the Ballon d’Or: “I would like his statement to be honest, not just empty words; there was sadness, I have nothing to hide, I wanted to win the prize”. At first it was thought that the interpretation of the phrase had been a mistake in the double translation from Polish to German and from German to English. But in conversation with Gray Nose, Lewandowski’s sayings were more than confirmed. He even went a bit further, belittling Messi in comparison to Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Cristiano is three and a half years older than me and continues to score many goals,” he explained. But he has changed the club, he has changed the strategy and his team doesn’t always win. When his team has found its balance, he can score again. He had great statistics, impossible numbers. Now they are just very good. He probably no longer scores 60 goals a year, but with 30 or 40 goals he will continue to make a difference”.

And he immediately complemented the analysis with a criticism of Messi. “For him, changing clubs was definitely a much more annoying experience. He had never played in another country other than Spain, he had never spoken another language. He now he has run into a language barrier. Cristiano has already changed clubs and leagues several times. The age at which he changes teams is not important, what is decisive are the circumstances. It will be more difficult for Messi, at the age of Cristiano Ronaldo, to stay at his level of goals scored.”