Following the conclusion of the 2014 World Cup draw, Messi received backlash by Iranians as his facebook account received a number of comments concerning the Argentinean super-star. Some made fun of the fact that Messi means “of copper” in Persian.
“Messi, you are made of copper. Even if you were out of gold, you could not do a damn thing” against Iran, said one commentator.
Not all of them were negative feedback or comments regarding the Barcelona player as some of them even apologized for what their fellow comrades did.
“As an Iranian, I want to apologize to you. Iranian people are not like that at all,” said Ali, in a post in English’’.
Argentina was placed together with Nigeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran in Group F. It is a group that Lionel Messi’s side are expected to finish at the top without having many problems. After hearing about their opponents, the reaction in Iran was mixed as some Iranians were happy to face tough competition ahead of them but others not so much.
The Brazilian model Fernanda Lima was one of the presenters in charge of making the draw and she was also a target for the Iranians as controversy emerged with the attire she was wearing.
Women of the Islamic Republic are obliged by law to cover their hair most parts of their body and every time Fernanda Lima appeared in the live broadcast, the footage was cut. Some Iranians, meanwhile, created a page on Facebook entitled “Iranians Apologise to Fernanda Lima & Leo Messi”, which has so far attracted nearly 20,000 fans.