Lionel Messi answers Stoke City question from Andy Murray to make David Beckham laugh
Lionel Messi answers Stoke City question from Andy Murray to make David Beckham laugh
Few would have guessed that it would be Sir Andy Murray who would be the one who finally asked Lionel Messi the old question about whether he could do it on a cold Tuesday night at Stoke City, nor the cheeky response.
Murray met the Argentina superstar when they watched the Miami Open semi-finals yesterday, with both Novak Djokovic and Jakub Mensik admitting after victories that they had been inspired by Messi’s presence.
Murray, who retired last summer, grabbed him for a changing room photo which he posted on Instagram with the caption: “I asked him if he could do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke. He responded ‘cállate la boca’ which I think means yes in Spanish.”
David Beckham was one of the first to reply, saying with an added laughing emoji: “I’m more than happy to translate that.”
Cállate la boca means ‘shut your mouth’ and this drew three laughing emojis from Djokovic and a comment from Stoke hero Asmir Begovic, who said: “Of course he could.”
Comedian Kevin Bridges just said, “Dos belters,” which might need translation from Spanish and Glaswegian.
Where does the Messi Stoke question come from?
It is 15 years since Andy Gray made a throwaway line about Stoke City during Sky Sports’ broadcast of Everton’s 2-1 win at Manchester City.
Gray’s time at Sky was up a few weeks later but that quote is still being repeated, a part of accepted world football language – even if sometimes it is said with tongue firmly in cheek.
He was looking at the list of nominees for the Ballon d’Or and wondered if Lionel Messi could be considered one of the world’s best ever if he wasn’t tested at club level outside of Spain.
He suggested that Cristiano Ronaldo “would not be the player that he is today had he not played in English football” and questioned how Messi would fare on “a cold night at the Britannia Stadium”.
“Barcelona have never played at the likes of Stoke and Blackburn,” he said.
Stoke had been a physical test for some of the world’s best teams in the Premier League for two-and-a-half seasons by that point – and, yes, the wind did whistle and rain, hail and snow did bluster through the open corners of the then-Britannia Stadium. There had been six evening kick-offs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Stoke in that time and Stoke had won five and drawn one.
Still, it wasn’t a view that was universally accepted. Spanish football expert Sid Lowe Tweeted: “Andy Gray said what?! Jesus wept. What a cliche-ridden, blind, idiotic tool.”
To be fair, Gray might have popularised that quote but he shouldn’t get all the credit. The hypothetical line about a cold and sometimes wet and often windy Tuesday or Wednesday night at Stoke had been doing the rounds before that show. Sometimes it was used by football snobs who gave it the feeling of a stereotypical “wet Wednesday” – a bore or chore. And yes, some of those moaning have Gooner in their handle.
But mostly it stands for the ultimate test of a player or team’s character, or even character in general when it has has made the crossover away from sport altogether.
But could Messi actually do it on a cold night in Stoke?
Stoke favourite Bojan, who played alongside Messi at Barcelona, laughed back in 2016: “Messi can do it! I understand that teams don’t like to come to the Britannia Stadium, especially in winter with the wind, the cold … and we’re a strong team. It’s not easy. But I try to enjoy it and I try to improve my football in that situation.”
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague replied: Balague tells Bojan: “I asked Messi about that. He said, ‘Those people that say that should realise I played in awful conditions in Rosario when I was 11 years old, with glass on the pitch, with holes and everything,’ … And he also played good.”
It is 15 years since Andy Gray made a throwaway line about Stoke City during Sky Sports’ broadcast of Everton’s 2-1 win at Manchester City.
Gray’s time at Sky was up a few weeks later but that quote is still being repeated, a part of accepted world football language – even if sometimes it is said with tongue firmly in cheek.
He was looking at the list of nominees for the Ballon d’Or and wondered if Lionel Messi could be considered one of the world’s best ever if he wasn’t tested at club level outside of Spain.
He suggested that Cristiano Ronaldo “would not be the player that he is today had he not played in English football” and questioned how Messi would fare on “a cold night at the Britannia Stadium”.
“Barcelona have never played at the likes of Stoke and Blackburn,” he said.
Stoke had been a physical test for some of the world’s best teams in the Premier League for two-and-a-half seasons by that point – and, yes, the wind did whistle and rain, hail and snow did bluster through the open corners of the then-Britannia Stadium. There had been six evening kick-offs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Stoke in that time and Stoke had won five and drawn one.
Still, it wasn’t a view that was universally accepted. Spanish football expert Sid Lowe Tweeted: “Andy Gray said what?! Jesus wept. What a cliche-ridden, blind, idiotic tool.”
To be fair, Gray might have popularised that quote but he shouldn’t get all the credit. The hypothetical line about a cold and sometimes wet and often windy Tuesday or Wednesday night at Stoke had been doing the rounds before that show. Sometimes it was used by football snobs who gave it the feeling of a stereotypical “wet Wednesday” – a bore or chore. And yes, some of those moaning have Gooner in their handle.
But mostly it stands for the ultimate test of a player or team’s character, or even character in general when it has has made the crossover away from sport altogether.
But could Messi actually do it on a cold night in Stoke?
Stoke favourite Bojan, who played alongside Messi at Barcelona, laughed back in 2016: “Messi can do it! I understand that teams don’t like to come to the Britannia Stadium, especially in winter with the wind, the cold … and we’re a strong team. It’s not easy. But I try to enjoy it and I try to improve my football in that situation.”
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague replied: Balague tells Bojan: “I asked Messi about that. He said, ‘Those people that say that should realise I played in awful conditions in Rosario when I was 11 years old, with glass on the pitch, with holes and everything,’ … And he also played good.”
Bojan said: “Of course. If he came to the Britannia he will also play good.”
Still, there is only one way that Messi can really prove it and he’ll have to make a begging call to new Stoke head of recruitment Ian Torrance to be given a chance to try to fill Bojan’s old boots and join the Potters this summer.
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