“Messi ran off like the school sneak”

Piers Morgan has again hit out at Argentina captain Lionel Messi over his attempt to get Marc Cucurella sent off in the FIFA World Cup final. The 39-year-old featured as his country were dethroned as world champions in New York, following a 1-0 defeat to Spain.

Morgan appeared on Sports Uncensored alongside John Terry and Simon Jordan, and lashed out at Lionel Messi for his actions in the final. He also accused the Inter Miami man of going completely missing, to the point that he did not know if Messi was on the pitch.

“Messi and dark arts. There was a moment last night when he tried to get Cucurella sent off because Cucurella went like that on his hand (gesticulates), literally like that. And Messi immediately ran off like the school sneak to get him red-carded.

I thought that was disgusting, so all this stuff of Saint Lionel, right? A) He’s supposedly the greatest player to play the game went completely missing in the final, completely missing to the extent that I didn’t think he was even on the pitch, right? Secondly, not Mr. Nice Guy, after all, not Mr. Saint Lionel, he deliberately tried to get Cucurella sent off in the most shameless, horrible manner imaginable”, he said.

Lionel Messi tried to get Marc Cucurella sent off in second half stoppage time under the Prestianni Rule after Enzo Fernandez saw red for two bookings. The left-back had approached him for a chat during the break in play, and appeared to briefly cover his mouth to speak to him, resulting in Messi calling the attention of referee Slavko Vincic.

Vincic ultimately decided that Cucurella’s actions were not malicious, and he escaped without any punishment. Morgan had sent out a post on X calling out Messi while the FIFA World Cup final was going on, but he took another opportunity to slam the forward.

Under what rule did Lionel Messi try to get Cucurella sent off in the FIFA World Cup final?

Lionel Messi tried to take advantage of the Prestianni Rule to get Marc Cucurella sent off and negate Spain’s man advantage in the FIFA World Cup final. The rule was put in place for the FIFA World Cup this summer, after Benfica youngster Gianluca Prestianni was accused of racist remarks by Vinicius Jr last season.

The rule stated that players who were found to cover their mouths while they confronted their opponents would get sent off automatically. It was put in place to deter underhanded remarks and ensure that words uttered in confrontations can be clearly observed.

During the FIFA World Cup group stage, Miguel Almiron became the first player to fall foul of the rule, picking up a red card in Paraguay’s clash against Türkiye. Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie was the second to fall foul, doing so in their Round of 32 defeat to Mexico.