Eamon Dunphy has blasted Lionel Messi for his penalty kick on Sunday and believes the Barcelona forward should apologise for not playing within the spirit of the game.
The Barcelona forward staged a penalty routine with Luis Suarez to allow his team-mate to score his hat-trick as he rolled the ball into the path of the onrushing Uruguay striker.
“None of the great players of the past would have ever dreamt of doing anything like that." - Dunphy
Barcelona were 3-1 up at the time and the RTÉ football pundit believes that Messi should both apologise and be reprimanded by his coach for his “self-indulgent” behaviour.
“No class. I thought it lacked class,” said Dunphy, speaking on tonight’s Game On on 2FM. “You have to respect your opponents and you have to respect the history of the game.
“None of the great players of the past would have ever dreamt of doing anything like that.
“Everyone who loves football, loves Messi and he let himself down, big time. He let the game down, he should apologise and he should be reprimanded by his coach.
“You don’t mess with the game, it’s sacrosanct.”
And Dunphy believes that the best players in the world have an obligation to set an example on the pitch and the former Ireland international feels that Messi disrespected his opponents as well as the game itself.
“It was a tough game and Celta Vigo are a good team,” continued Dunphy. “They don’t deserve that kind of disrespect. It’s bad, it’s really bad when the best in the game do things that are cheap. It’s a stunt and it’s self-indulgent.
“The spirit of the game is more important than the written rules. You respect your fellow professionals, you respect your opponents. No matter how good you are, you are not bigger than the game.
“He won’t be doing that in a Champions League final. The best have to be the best and class is class, and you have an obligation to respect your opponents, respect the sport and to respect the fans.
“And that kind of bollocks-ology, to use a local colloquialism; there’s no place for it in the arsenal of a great player and Lionel Messi is probably the best player we have ever seen.
“He was way out of order, he should apologise and if he doesn’t, he loses a little in my eyes.”
