football toilet | Let Messi pray he doesn’t find him, rages Mexican boxer Álvarez

Álvarez, holder of the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF super middleweight belts, was angered by video footage of the triumphant celebration from Argentina’s locker room, which showed the green Mexico jersey Messi took from the match lying on the ground. At one point, the Argentine captain even inadvertently kicked him as he took off his boots.

“He swept the floor with the Mexican national team shirt and the country’s flag!” thunders Álvarez on his Twitter account, where he has over two million followers. “Pray to God you don’t find him!” the 32-year-old Mexican boxing idol told the Argentine soccer kingpin.

According to the Mexican boxer, it was disrespectful behavior, but Messi’s former teammates stood up for the Argentine star. “Don’t make excuses or make trouble if you don’t know anything about football or what happens in the cabin. The shirts are always on the floor because they are sweaty,” replied former Argentine international Sergio Agüero. Messi’s former Barcelona colleague Cesc Fábregas expressed a similar opinion.

The reigning South American champions struggled for a long time after a shocking 1-2 defeat by Saudi Arabia in Lusail on Saturday, but after an hour Messi opened the scoring with a long-range strike before setting up the double from substitute Enzo Fernández in the 87th minute. Mexico, who failed to score in his second World Cup appearance in Qatar, have slipped to a minimum.

The Argentines will close out the first half of the tournament in Group C against Poland on Wednesday. They beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 on Saturday to top the table by four points. Mexico will compete against Saudi Arabia from three-point range in a parallel game.