Lionel Messi’s son Thiago, 10, texts his father before his final shot at the world title quoting the entire Argentine song insulting the English over the Falklands War
Lionel Messi’s 10-year-old son wrote the Argentinian star a letter insulting England ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final against France.
Messi’s Argentina will face France in a bid to lift the Jules Rimet trophy for the first time in their final World Cup game.
However, the 35-year-old’s wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, has shared on social media an image of the letter from the duo’s son Thiago, which quotes the Argentine song “Muchachos” and targets England over the Falklands War.
Lionel Messi’s son Thiago wrote his father a letter ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final
Thiago (second from right) included words of the chant “Muchachos”, aimed at England
“I was born in Argentina, Diego’s country [Maradona] and Lionel,” begins the letter, written in Spanish.
About Clarin it goes on: “Of the children from Malvinas, whom I will never forget. I can’t explain it to you because you won’t understand.
“We lost the final, how many years I cried for them, but that ended in the maracana, the final with the brazuqas, dad won it again.
“Guys now we’re excited again, I want to win third place, I want to be world champion and we can see Diego from the sky with Don Diego and La Tota cheering on Lionel.”
Messi’s family is in Qatar and his wife Antonela Roccuzzo posted the letter on Instagram
The song recently became the country’s top song on Spotify after a video of Messi’s team singing it during the World Cup went viral.
Video emerged of jubilant Argentinian players removing their shirts as they mocked Brazil and England in the song after beating Croatia in the World Cup semifinals last Tuesday.
The lyrics include a line that reads ‘Ingleses putos de Malvinas no me olvido’, which roughly translates to ‘f***ing English in the Falklands, I don’t forget’.
The word ‘Putos’ to describe the English often has homophobic connotations and can also mean cowards, while the Falkland Islands are referred to by their Spanish name ‘Las Malvinas’.
Argentina have reached the World Cup final and will face France in Messi’s last game at the tournament today
Defender Nicolas Otamendi shared footage of the team’s celebrations on his Instagram profile after Tuesday night’s 3-0 win. The team plays France in the World Cup final on Sunday.
Argentina team-mates, including Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez and Manchester City’s two-time goalscorer Julian Alvarez, joined in the insulting chant.
Argentina still claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands despite it having been a British Overseas Territory since 1833, and the islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the United Kingdom.
But Argentina claims it acquired the Falkland Islands from Spain in 1816 before Britain asserted its rule.
In 1982 the archipelago was invaded by Argentine forces, who were repelled in a ten-week war ordered by Margaret Thatcher, and the islands were returned to British control.