JAKARTA - World boxing champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez finally issued an apology to Lionel Messi after accusing the Argentine national team star of stepping on a Mexican costume.
The Mexican wrote Twitter last weekend to vent his anger after a video clip showing Messi's toe hit El Tri's jersey on the floor of Argentina's dressing room.
"Did you see Messi cleaning the dressing room with our jersey and flag? He better pray to God not to see me," Alvarez wrote on Twitter at the time.
The incident occurred after Messi led Argentina to beat Mexico 2-0 in the second match of Group C, at the Lusail Stadium, Sunday, November 27 yesterday.
After the match Messi and his friends also celebrated their victory in the dressing room. However, the Paris Saint-Germain player accidentally kicked the jersey he exchanged with Andres Guardado as he was about to remove his shoes.
It was this accidental move that made many Messi supporters then criticized Alvarez. They thought the boxer reacted too much.
"I was carried away by the passion and love I felt for my country and I made comments that were inappropriate. I want to apologize to Messi and the Argentine people," Alvarez wrote on Twitter.
"Every day we learn something new and this time it's my turn. I wish both teams success in their game today and will continue to support Mexico until the end," he added.
Unfortunately, Alvarez's hopes of seeing his country qualify from the group stage did not come true. Mexico had to go home early after finishing third in the standings.
In the last match, Mexico managed to add three points thanks to a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia. However, they lost on goal difference to Poland who qualified as runners up.
Estos últimos días me dejé llevar por la pasión y el amor que siento por mi país e hice comentarios que estuvieron fuera de lugar por lo que quiero disculparme con Messi y la gente de Argentina. Todos los días aprendemos algo nuevo y esta vez me tocó a mí.
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) November 30, 2022
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
