The Manchester United dressing room has not allowed Wout Weghorst to move on from his heated altercation with Lionel Messi, with one teammate branding him "bobo" after the World Cup row.
Weghorst, 30, who joined United on loan from Burnley in the January transfer window, was on the receiving end of a savage put-down from Messi, 35, after the ill-tempered quarter-final between Netherlands and Argentina. 15 cards were dished out and it took penalties to separate the teams at Lusail Stadium back in early December, with La Albiceleste victorious in the shootout.
Argentina had looked certain to progress to the semi-finals with a 2-0 lead in regular time, but Weghorst came off the bench to score twice. Ultimately, his heroic double was not enough to send the Oranje through, but the limelight remained on the towering striker long after the final whistle.
That is because he clashed with Messi during the post-match interviews, when the Paris Saint-Germain superstar broke off from his media duties to declare: "Que miras, bobo?" This translates to, "What are you looking at, fool?" - and Messi's barb has led to a new nickname being dished out by one of his club teammates.
Lisandro Martinez, who would go on to win the World Cup alongside Messi, has started to call Weghorst "bobo" in a playful manner, according to Spanish outlet Sport. Although regularly being branded a "fool" is not a typical way of showing affection, the report notes Martinez, 25, uses the nickname in a joking manner and his teammate has no issues with it.
Weghorst claimed that Messi had refused to shake his hand in the aftermath of the fiery quarter-final, while the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner was keen to draw a line under the incident when speaking in January.
"Everything that came out was natural, a lot had happened on the field with that player in reality and a couple more," Messi told Infobae. "At the moment of tension, friction, crossing, when the game gets like that, the anger with the referee too. He (Weghorst) was in the mixed zone and the game had just finished. And, well, I know that there is everything now."
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In late December, Weghorst appeared to have softened his stance on the altercation, telling De Telegraaf : “I wanted to pay my respects to him (Messi) after the game, but he was not open to that. Well, I see it as a nice compliment that he knows my name now. Then I did something right."
He added: "But I have a lot of respect for him. He is the best, or one of the best players ever."
