Lionel Messi’s phrase already has merchandising: they sell mugs and T-shirts of “what are you looking at, stupid?”

“Who doesn’t run flies”, is usually said of those who, faced with a situation of interest, anticipate the others to take advantage of it. In this case they did it a few hours later. Is that less than a day before the match between Argentina and the Netherlands for the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, there is already merchandising with the famous phrase that said Lionel Messi just finished the match.

“What are you looking at, stupid? What are you looking at, stupid?… Go over there”, is what the Albiceleste captain said shortly before starting the first interview after the victory of the Selection led by Lionel Scaloni. The insult was for Wout Weghorst, orange team player who scored both goals for the European team.

The statement went viral around the world and became an icon of the national team’s qualification for the World Cup semi-finals.

Such was the furor that, just hours later, entrepreneurs immortalized the phrase on their products and began marketing them on their web pages and other platforms.

As in Mercado Libre, for example, where different types of mugs and T-shirts with the printed statement have been published.

There are different fonts and styles. Some accompanied by the image of Lionel Messi, others illustrated with the Argentine flag and some simply with the saying.

And just as there’s variety in the offerings, there’s also variety in the prices: mugs range from $1,500 to $3,000, while t-shirts go for $3,800.

Likewise, there are other sellers who directly sell the templates for you to make the illustrations or paste them onto other items. These are cheaper and start at 350 pesos.

The moment Lionel Messi immortalized the phrase

This Friday after the epic shoot-out victory against the Netherlands, Lionel Messi changed his usual cautious face and exploded: in an interview he responded with insults to someone who was not seen behind the camera, then launched spicy statements against FIFA, for the performance of Spanish referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz, and fired upon rival DT Louis Van Gaal for how his team was planted in the quarter-finals.

It didn’t take long to reveal the enigma of who the Argentine number 10 had insulted in the opening serve: the captain of the Argentine national team bet directly on Wout Weghorst, author of the brace for the Netherlands which allowed him to trace the result and to extend the definition first to extra time and then to penalties.

“What are you looking at, stupid? What are you looking at, stupid?… Go there,” Messi shot shortly before starting an interview with the TyC Sports channel in the mixed area of ​​the Lusail stadium, just before entering the dressing rooms.

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