Maaskant slams Messi's World Cup final antics as schoolboy behavior

During the live De Oranjezomer broadcast, former Dutch coach Robert Maaskant launched a blistering attack on Lionel Messi, accusing the Argentine (Argentijnse) superstar of behaving like a schoolboy after the World Cup final against Spain. He claimed Messi tried to persuade the referee to send off Spanish defender Marc Cucurella with a red card, a move he deemed disgraceful.

"I find it terrible," Maaskant began. He said the incident reflected a breach of basic sportsmanship.

Maaskant added that Messi is "the best player that has ever been on football fields," yet he lowered himself in the final by acting like a small schoolboy who reports a teammate.

He explained that VAR had reviewed the incident and concluded the Spanish (Spaanse) player was not expelled because he did not sufficiently cover his mouth.

According to Maaskant, the Spanish defender said nothing racist, noting that "lip‑readers" were deployed and the situation turned out less serious than imagined.

Maaskant warned that abandoning full ethics in sport could lead to chaos, comparing it to a scenario where Tom Coronel might crash into someone with his car or Ben van den Burg could damage a skater's equipment.

He concluded that such behaviour threatens the very existence of sport, insisting that ethical standards must never be abandoned.