Lionel Messi’s former teammates Sergio Aguero and Cesc Fabregas have come to his aid after he upset one of the world’s most fearsome men.
Messi attracted the wrath of arguably the finest active boxer when Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was shown footage of the Argentine appearing to wipe the floor with a Mexico shirt.
Canelo, a proud Mexican, reacted on social media after a clip emerged in the aftermath of Argentina’s 2-0 World Cup win over Mexico, and it’s fair to say he wasn’t happy.
The undisputed super middle-weight champion Tweeted: “Did you guys see Messi cleaning the floor with our jersey and flag? He better pray to God that I don’t find him.
“Just like I respect Argentina, he has to respect Mexico! I’m not talking about the country [as a whole], just about the bulls*** that Messi did.”
Canelo, who has 2.2million followers on Twitter, then had a busy 24 hours after the incident, responding to followers as debate raged about the ‘disrespect’.
Two footballers made sure to clear things up though, with Messi’s former Argentina teammate Aguero and ex-Barcelona colleague Fabregas putting their thoughts across.
Fabregas wrote: “You neither know the person, nor do you understand how a dressing room works or what happens after a game.
“ALL t-shirts, even the ones we wear ourselves, go on the floor and are washed afterwards. And more when you celebrate an important victory.”
Aguero made a similar point, writing: “Mr. Canelo, don’t look for excuses or problems, surely you don’t know about football and what happens in a dressing room.
“The shirts are always on the floor after the games are over due to sweat and then if you see well, he makes the movement to remove the prize and accidentally hits it.”
Canelo didn’t reply to either of the footballing greats, but engaged with a number of followers and later said: “Anyone who doesn’t defend their homeland is an asshole… Fanaticism is one thing, your identity is another. LONG LIVE MEXICO CABRONES”
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