In an Indian cricket match first the crowd would beat him up. Then the police would file an FIR against him. And the CM of the state would call him a foreign agent anti national and order an inquiry. Media would call it master stroke.
That save from the Goalkeeper on Ronaldo's hattrick attempt! It would have been awarded a penalty to Argentina if Messi was in that situation. VAR would have agreed to it as well.
Thierry Henry on the VAR check involving Lionel Messi:
๐ฃ๏ธ โIโve seen a lot of people saying that should have been a red card, but for me, intent is very important when you analyse these situations properly.โ
โWhen you watch it again, you can clearly see that Lionel Messi is focused on the ball and trying to make a football action, not trying to hurt anyone.โ
โYes, there is contact. Yes, it looks awkward. But not every collision is a red card.โ
โThatโs exactly why VAR exists โ to slow everything down and determine whether there was any malicious intent or serious foul play.โ
โThe officials looked at it carefully and in the end didn't even believe it was worth a yellow card.โ
โPeople are reacting because itโs Messi. If it was another player, I don't think there would be nearly as much controversy.โ
โFor me, it was accidental, unfortunate, and nothing more than that.โ
โFootball is a contact sport, and sometimes incidents look far worse in real time than they actually are.โ