Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Colombia but what stole the show was the events that took place after the match. Lionel Messi led the whole Argentina squad into the press conference room and issued a statement that’s left the media houses stunned.
The Barcelona star informed the journalists present there that the entire squad would not be communicating with any of the media outlets anymore. The squad lead out to address the issue surrounding Lavezzi, who was accused by a journalist to have smoked a joint last week.
Messi started off by informing the media that this would be the last time they communicated with them. “We are here to let you know that we will no longer be communicating with the press. The accusations (of smoking a joint) that were made towards Lavezzi were huge. We regret that it has to be this way but we have no other choice. We know that many of you don’t play that game.” said the Argentina captain.
Lionel Messi and the entire Argentina squad have been getting a lot of heat from the press ever since they lost the Copa America Final to Chile for the 2nd time in a row. The captain changed the mindset of the people there by suddenly announcing his retirement but then came back to play for the La Albiceleste in September.
“We were accused a lot. No respect was being shown and we never said anything. But this accusation against Lavezzi was it. If we don’t stop it today, we’ll never stop it. We know that you will continue to criticise us, that’s fine. However, some got into our personal lives.” added the Barcelona star.
The whole press conference had just Messi speaking with the players silently standing behind him and the journalists doing the same in front of him. He went on with the speech and said, “We wanted to say this in front of everyone and not release a statement. We didn’t want to hide from anyone. These past two weeks were filled with personal aggression, not football criticism. You can criticise us for winning or losing, but when you get personal we will draw the line.”
Lavezzi to take action against journalist
Lavezzi, who now plays in the Chinese Super League for Hebei China Fortune, was called up for World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Colombia by Edgardo Bauza. He did not feature in Argentina’s 3-0 defeat to Brazil and one journalist, Gabriel Anello reported that Lavezzi he was left out because he smoked marijuana the night before the match.
The striker has revealed on twitter that he would be taking serious action against the journalist for his false accusations and that he will not be taking this lightly. The Argentine has already lodged a case according to various reports.
Translation of Lavezzi’s post: "I have hereby communicated that I'm going to initiate legal action against Gabriel Anello for his false accusations against me, for the serious damage that has been caused to my family and my work."
