Lionel Messi-Robert Lewandowski Cold War, But Now It's Peaceful

Robert Lewandowski has made peace with Lionel Messi (Instagram/@_rl9).

JAKARTA - The relationship between Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski has never been harmonious. The peak will be seen at the 2022 World Cup.

At that time, Argentina and Poland were facing each other in the final match of Group C. The match was indeed hot considering that both teams had to ensure their tickets to the knockout rounds.

One of the moments that proved Messi and Lewandowski were in the middle of a cold war occurred when the two faced one on one.

Lewandowski then ignored Messi who was dribbling the ball towards him.

The moment passed without any further action. Argentina closed the match with a 2-0 win.

However, there was a heated atmosphere during the dispersal. When Lewandowski reached out to Messi to shake hands, the Argentina captain refused. Messi instead looked away, looking up.

A year later, Messi finally revealed the reason behind their fight. He deliberately wanted to embarrass Lewandowski at the 2022 World Cup.

It turns out that Messi still holds a grudge in the race for the 2021 Ballon d'Or. At that time, the Inter Miami player revealed on stage that Lewandowski deserved the 2020 Ballon d'Or award which was ultimately canceled due to the pandemic.

However, Lewandowski responded sarcastically to Messi's statement. The Polish player said Messi's statement was insincere.

So, that's where Messi's revenge was born. He was disappointed with Lewandowski's response.

“Lewandowski's statements in 2021 bother me because when I won the Ballon d'Or I said what I really felt,” Messi told ESPN.

"I ignored him during the (2022 World Cup) match because I was angry and thought he shouldn't have said what he said. I was very angry."

The cold war then continued. After Messi won the 2021 Ballon d'Or in November that year, there was an agenda for selecting The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021 in January 2022.

Messi admitted that he did not include Lewandowski's name in his top three votes for the award.

Even so, Lewandowski was still able to win The Best FIFA Football Awards 2021 by getting more points than Messi who was in second place.

However, now the cold war is over. The two have reconciled. Messi and Lewandowski realize that all this time their fight was based on a misunderstanding.

“After that we met and talked and agreed that it was a misunderstanding. He was upset because what he said did not match what was reported."

“Then he went to Barcelona and we talked a lot about the club, the city and everything,” said Messi.

Their feud ended before Messi decided to join Inter Miami. Lewandowski and Messi even discussed the possibility of the Argentinian star returning to Barcelona.

“I know what Messi means to Barcelona. When you think of Barcelona, you say Messi and when you think of Messi, you say Barca."

"I also know what value Leo (Messi) will bring to our team, not only on the pitch, but also for the club as a whole."

“I always like playing with players who understand football. And Leo is the best," said Lewandowski.