Video does not show football star Lionel Messi talking about Argentina-Indonesia match

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 23, 2023 at 13:54
Updated on June 23, 2023 at 14:12
3 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A video of Lionel Messi has been viewed millions of times in Indonesian-language posts that falsely claim it shows the Argentine football player saying he would participate in a friendly match between Argentina and Indonesia on June 19, 2023. But the Indonesian subtitles are not an accurate translation of Messi's words, which were taken from a press interview he gave that was unrelated to the friendly match. The match between the two countries took place without him.

"The public is relieved. Lionel Messi decided to come to Indonesia to face the Indonesian national team," reads the post shared here on Facebook on June 12, 2023.

The post uploaded a video clip that shows Lionel Messi, Argentine football player and the country's national team captain, responding to what appears to be a press interview, followed by a number of photographs of him.

The video, which also features an Indonesian voiceover throughout, has been watched more than 699,000 times.

Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on June 21, 2023.

The video started with an interviewer asking Messi a question in Spanish, with subtitles in Indonesian that read: "Leo, is it true that you will not come to Jakarta?"

When Messi responded also in Spanish, the Indonesian subtitles read, "No, that is not true. I will travel there and visit Bali."

The voiceover in Indonesian can be heard: "Bringing relief to Indonesian football fans, Lionel Messi eventually denied rumours that he would not travel to Jakarta with the Argentine national team.

"According to Messi, the news was premature and unclear. He stated that he would play for his fans in Indonesia and would travel to Bali after the match against Indonesia."

The video has been viewed more than two million times after it was shared with a similar claim here on Facebook. here on TikTok, as well as here and here on YouTube.

The claim circulated shortly after media outlets reported that the Argentine star would skip the friendly match in Jakarta on June 19, disappointing his Indonesian fans (archived link).

But the claim is false.

False subtitles

A combination of Google reverse image and keyword searches found this video, which is more than 25 minutes long, published on the YouTube channel of Spanish sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo on June 8, 2023 (archived links here and here).

According to the video's description, during the exclusive interview, Messi talked a range of different topics: his life in Paris, his reasons for not returning to FC Barcelona and his desire to enjoy football without the pressure he experienced in Europe.

The 22-second mark of the genuine video shows the part included in the misleading clip.

The interviewer can be heard asking Messi: "How are you, Leo? How do you feel? Which feelings do you have?"

Messi replies: "No, well, actually relaxed, happy to have finished the season."

Analysis of the video shows the footballer discussing his life and career throughout the interview. In the video he makes no mention of his plan to visit Indonesia for the friendly match in Jakarta.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the genuine video from Mundo Deportivo (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (left) and the genuine video from Mundo Deportivo (right)

The misleading video also contains unrelated photos, such as a photo depicting the Argentine team's return home after winning the 2022 World Cup, a photo of Messi giving the thumbs up in Madrid in April 2021, and an image of him and his teammates arriving in Beijing on June 10, 2023, days before a friendly match against Australia (archived links here, here and here).

Messi not present

After days of speculation about his participation, Messi was not present for the international friendly between Argentina and Indonesia on June 19, 2023, as reported by AFP (archived links here).

Argentine head coach Lionel Scaloni said the football star skipped the match in Jakarta so that he could begin his holiday early following a hectic season (archived links here and here).

AFP previously debunked a false claim that Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo commenting about the match between Argentina and Indonesia.

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