Credit: CBS Sports Golazo on X
CBSSoccerBy Sam Neumann on

In case you’re wondering, there’s no love lost between Lionel Messi and Jamie Carragher.

Still, Carragher believes Messi to be a superior player to that of Cristiano Ronaldo, despite the former referring to him as a “donkey.” Perhaps that’s the reason why Messi refused to appear on CBS Sports’ Destination Miami set on Wednesday.

After all, Messi did take offense to Carragher criticizing his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. So much so that Messi slid into Carragher’s DMs while essentially referring to him as stupid.

And according to host Kate Abdo, Carragher’s presence on CBS Sports’ UEFA Champions League broadcast from The 305 Wednesday is exactly why Messi didn’t show up.

“Messi called you a donkey, Ronaldo ignored you,” Abdo quipped. “You know that we invited him — we made an official invitation and extended one to Inter Miami, and asked (Lionel Messi) to come on the show. You know what the official response was from Inter Miami? Am I allowed to say this? Apparently, Lionel Messi will not be doing any television show that Jamie Carragher is present.”

Well, we already know how Messi feels about Carragher, but perhaps this is another dagger in their relationship (or lack thereof).

Give Carragher credit, though. In addition to being a successful longtime defender for Premiere League club Liverpool, and an English football pundit, Carragher is considered a persona non grata when it comes to Lionel Messi. And he wants that to be his claim to fame.

Carragher then proceeded to ask the crowd in Miami if they’d rather have him or Messi. Yes, he did say that, to the dismay of Abdo.

“You think Messi’s going to bring the energy to show that we need? You’d rather have Messi on this show than me?”

The crowd seemed to be on Carragher’s side, but maybe they didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Abdo said that the crowd was “lying,” and she’d likely be right. But it appears that we’ll never know, considering that Carragher isn’t going anywhere and Messi isn’t going anywhere near a television set that includes Carragher.

[Daily Mail]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann