Zlatan Ibrahimovic has slammed Argentina’s players for their behaviour during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Argentina won the World Cup for the third time in their history, 36 years after Diego Maradona last inspired the South American nation to glory in Mexico.
Lionel Messi was the star of the tournament, scoring seven goals and producing a series of magic moments en route to achieving his lifelong dream of becoming a world champion.
However, Argentina were criticised by fans and pundits alike at times during the tournament for their antics.
In the quarter-finals against the Netherlands, Argentina’s players were slammed for rubbing salt into their opponents wounds after winning the penalty shootout.
Read more: World Cup: Footage shows why Argentina’s players taunted Netherlands’ players after penalties
On the same night, Messi and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez both had words with veteran Dutch coach Louis van Gaal. Messi also had a verbal altercation with striker Wout Weghorst, who recently signed for Manchester United.
Martinez then did his best to psych out France’s players in the penalty shootout of the World Cup final and celebrated winning the Golden Glove award in rather eyebrow-raising style.
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - DECEMBER 18: Emiliano Martinez of Argentina poses for a photo with the adidas Golden Glove trophy during the award ceremony following the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
What has Zlatan said about Argentina's players?
Watching on from afar was Zlatan, who himself is no stranger to controversy.
While the Swedish forward praised Messi for rather cementing his status as the greatest footballer of all time, he believes the icon’s teammates have shown that they won’t win anything else.
MILAN, ITALY - OCTOBER 22: Zlatan Ibrahimovic of AC Milan looks on from the bench prior to the Serie A match between AC Milan and AC Monza at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on October 22, 2022 in Milan, Italy . (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
"Messi is considered the best player in history, I was sure he was going to win. What will happen is that [Kylian] Mbappe will still win a World Cup," Ibrahimovic said in an interview with France Inter, per Goal.
“I’m not worried about him. I'm worried about the others in Argentina, because they will not win anything more.
“Messi has won everything and he will be remembered, but the rest who behaved badly, we can't respect that.
“This is coming from me, speaking as a top professional player, that is a sign that you will win once, but you won't win again. You don't win like that."
Watch a clip from the interview here:
Damning comments from Ibrahimovic, who clearly feels that Argentina’s players didn’t cover themselves in glory during the tournament.
Messi was expected to announce his international retirement after the Qatar World Cup, but there’s already talk that the 35-year-old may stay on until at least the 2024 Copa America.
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