Former Chelsea forward, Carlton Cole, has slammed Argentina captain Lionel Messi, calling him selfish.
Cole is not happy that Messi has remained silent after his national teammate, Enzo Fernandez and several other players from Argentina sang racist chants directed at France.
Recall that after their 1-0 Copa America 2024 triumph over Colombia last Sunday, Argentina players was involved in racist chants directed to the French national team.
Fernandez was streaming live on Instagram as several Argentina stars, excluding Lionel Messi, celebrated on the team bus afterward.
talkSPORT translated the chants to say, “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French.”
While Fernandez has apologize for his role in the incident, Messi has remained silent.
“Argentina have got someone who is renowned as probably the best footballer to ever grace the beautiful game – Lionel Messi,” Cole said on talkSPORT.
“We’ve got a look at Messi and you say, you know what, Messi come out. We need to hear you. I need you to. You’ve got to speak up about this.
“Because this is more than Enzo. Messi is the main guy there. He’s the captain. He needs to come out and say something about this behaviour.
“Otherwise, it’s just like he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care how I feel, he doesn’t care how some of his black teammates he’s had in the past feel.
“That just shows me that he’s selfish. He needs to come out and say something. I condemn him. Simple. I condemn Messi.”
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