Messi has got plenty of practice celebrating goals. The diminutive Argentine has 721 club goals in 889 games, as well as a record 106 for Argentina.

However, Messi stated that there is one celebration that he greatly regrets. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner ostentatiously put his hands to his ears after scoring a penalty against the Netherlands in last year’s Qatar World Cup to rile up Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal.

Van Gaal had made comments regarding Messi’s performances leading up to the quarter-finals, particularly his contribution off the ball.

However, Messi has subsequently admitted that he immediately regretted cupping his ears to the Dutch coach because he was afraid Argentina would lose the tie.

“I came up with the ‘Topo Gigio’ [named in honour of a cartoon character, a goal celebration in which a player puts his hands to his ears as a sign of defying someone] right there and I automatically regretted it,” the 36-year-old explained to ESPN.

“As soon as I did it, I thought to myself, ‘What an idiot.'” They still have time to tie it.’ These things happen all the time.”

That is exactly what happened, with Wout Weghorst scoring twice following Messi’s penalty to tie the game.

Despite the shift in momentum, Argentina went on to win 4-3 on penalties against the Netherlands.

Following the game, Messi stated, “‘I feel disrespected by Van Gaal after his pre-game comments, and some Dutch players spoke too much during the game.”

While Argentina went on to win the World Cup, with Messi named player of the tournament, Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal has not forgotten how the game finished, saying the World Cup was rigged.

“I don’t really want to say much about it,” the Dutchman told reporters at the time, according to the Mirror.

“When you see how Argentina scored their goals and how we scored our goals, and how some Argentina players overstepped the mark and were not punished, then I think it was all a premeditated game.”