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Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul shared an instance involving Lionel Messi while sharing his thoughts about the recent controversy around Enzo Fernandez. The Chelsea midfielder has landed in deep trouble after sharing an Instagram live after La Albiceleste's Copa America 2024 win.
The video featured Fernandez alongside a few other Argentine teammates singing an alleged racist and transphobic song directed at the French national team. The song was reportedly popularized after Argentina defeated France in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar.
On his streaming channel OLGA, De Paul claimed that much of the backlash on the Argentina team has got to do with people targetting a successful team. He specifically mentioned Lionel Messi and recalled how he asked his teammates not to taunt anyone after they won the Copa America final on July 14.
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"When the final ended, Messi came and the first thing he said was, ‘nobody taunts anyone, let’s celebrate and enjoy our victory. They always find something against the winner," De Paul said (via All About Argentina).
The Atletico Madrid star detailed how the people also said multiple derogatory things about La Albiceleste. He pointed out that they claimed Argentina got help while winning the World Cup or claiming South American teams aren't good enough.
"Whether it’s that we got help, or that we taunt others, or that it’s not such a good team, or that South America is less developed than Europe, we didn't see any fuss about that when they say those things about us. All these things are said to discredit what we’ve achieved," he added.
De Paul also allegedly took a dig at the mindset that the Euro is better than the World Cup. The opinion was popularized by Kylian Mbappe ahead of Euro 2024, leading to a debate about which competition is more challenging. Moreover, the Euro vs Copa America debate has been much-discussed for years in football.
On this, De Paul said:
"We never talk before playing. For us, the Euro is incredible, but in the World Cup the best ones play. Someone from Colombia said that Messi and Di María weren’t the same anymore, that they were old. We see those things. Now they’re on about Enzo and nobody talks about the Copa América.”
Argentina won Copa America 2024, beating Colombia 1-0 after extra time on July 14.
When Lionel Messi stopped his Argentina teammates from taunting Brazil after 2021 Copa America win
A video from the 2021 Copa America final featuring Lionel Messi has resurfaced online amid the controversy surrounding the Argentina national team and their racist chants.
The video features the veteran and his Argentine teammates dancing and celebrating after defeating Brazil 1-0 in the 2021 Copa final. The players were allegedly about to sing a song taunting the Brazil team but La Pulga urged them not to do so. Watch it here:
It is worth noting that it is not confirmed whether the Inter Miami forward was in the bus when Enzo Fernandez's video was shot. The footage did not capture the Argentine captain, and he has since then not made any comments on the incident.
