During the quarter-final clash against the Netherlands, where Argentina triumphed on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time, Messi was seen goading the opposition boss after scoring in the match.

Messi ran towards the Netherlands bench before cupping both of his ears in their direction – which proved to aggravate their coaching staff and players.

The reasons behind Lionel Messi’s ear-cupping celebration have now been revealed

Messi was seen goading Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal during the World Cup clash

Messi and van Gaal then clashed after the final whistle of the quarter-final match

Now, it’s been confirmed that Messi performed the celebration as an ode to his sporting hero Juan Roman Riquelme – who infamously fell out with van Gaal while at Barcelona.

In Netflix’s ‘Captains of the World’, journalist Julien Laurens said: ‘Van Gaal nearly destroyed the career of Messi’s idol Juan Roman Riquelme.

‘The Dutch coach refused to play the Argentinian at Barcelona. When Riquelme scored for Barcelona, he would do his trademark celebration towards van Gaal.

‘Messi never forgot this.’

The Argentina captain then revealed that he had ongoing communication with his idol throughout the tournament in Qatar.

In the same documentary, Messi said: ‘For many years, I’ve been talking to Roman. And during the World Cup, we spoke after the matches’.

After the final whistle of the match, Van Gaal and Messi were spotted in what appeared to be a tense touchline exchange after the final whistle, in which the Argentine allegedly told the manager: ‘You talk too much.’

After the game he also told reporters: ‘I feel disrespected by Van Gaal after his pre-game comments and some Dutch players spoke too much during the game.’

Messi’s idol, Juan Roman Riquelme, often cupped his ears as a celebration in his playing career

However, a month after the World Cup, Messi admitted that he harbours some regret for his actions.

He told Argentine journalist Andy Kuznetsoff: ‘The truth is that I hadn’t thought about it. He came out at the moment and yes, he knew what he had commented before the game, what he had commented.

‘Some of my classmates told me ‘you saw what he said’ on purpose. We got 2-0 and then at the moment, I don’t like what I did, what happened later with the “go over there”.

‘These are moments of great tension, a lot of nervousness, everything happens very quickly and you don’t have time to think about anything. Actually, nothing was planned, it happened like that and as I say, I don’t like to leave that image.’