Yerry Mina has nothing against Lionel Messi who taunted him after he missed a penalty kick in the Copa America semi-finals match between Argentina and Columbia.
The 26-year-old Columbian center-back who currently plays for Everton said he still has huge respect for the Argentine football icon despite taunting him during the just concluded South American football tournament.
Before Yerry Mina left FC Barcelona to join Everton on August 9, 2018, for a transfer fee worth €30.25 million, the football star is known to celebrate goals or wins by dancing.
Even when on international duties with Columbia, he is fond of showing some funny dance moves when his teammate scores or when the team wins.
Some dance moves from Yerry Mina 💃
— VBET News (@VBETnews) July 4, 2021
🎥 @CopaAmerica
#CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/hfMyApCUyP
During the Copa America semi-final between Argentina and Columbia on July 7, 2021, Yerry Mina had a very good dance when Columbia equalized 1-1 in the 61st minute of the match.
However, the two teams were not able to score the winning goal in regular time until the game dragged into penalty shootouts.
Unfortunately for Yerry Mina, he was not able to score his spot-kick. Argentina and Aston Villa goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez saved Mina’s spot-kick.
Immediately the defender missed his spot-kick, a very joyous Messi began to shout at the former FC Barcelona defender telling him “Dance now, go on, dance now!”
🗣️ Leo Messi after Yerry Mina’s penalty miss:
— infosfcb (@infosfcb) July 13, 2021
“ HOW ABOUT DANCING NOW? ”
“ COME ON!! ”
“ DANCE NOW, DANCE. ”pic.twitter.com/pXFC6OVddl
To make matters worse for Yerry Mina, Columbia lost the match 3-2 via penalties. While Argentina went on to beat Brazil in the final to win the Copa America.
Most football fans did not expect Lionel Messi to behave the way he did because of his experience in the game and the fact that Mina used to be his teammates at FC Barcelona.
The Columbia star and Messi played together between January 2018 and August 2018 even though Yerry Mina managed to make just 6 appearances in all competitions before he was sold to Everton where he has been playing regularly.
While opening up on the incident that happened between him and Lionel Messi, Mina said he has nothing against the Argentine football icon because he was just defending his national team.
“What happened with Leo is something that can happen at any moment, this is football,” Mina said at an event hosted by his charity organization in Guachené, Colombia.
“Life has cycles, it gives [opportunities for] revenge, but I am calm because I know that Leo is a great person.
“I met him at Barcelona and I thank him for the support that he gave me, I will always respect him,” the defender reflected.
“I admire Messi for what he is, at that time we were both defending our National Team.
“If I could give my life for my national team, I would give it, but what happened was left [out on the pitch], there’s nothing to it.”
