English actor, Patrick Stewart has riled netizens by calling Argentina national football team captain, Lionel Messi “a God”.
Stewart, 82, shared an undated photo of himself and Messi on Facebook on Wednesday.
He captioned it, “The time I met a God… Congratulations to Leo Messi and Argentina on their marvelous play”.
Stewart posted the controversial comment hours after 35-year-old Messi scored a goal and provided an assist to help Argentina thrash Croatia and reach the final of the ongoing 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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However, many internet users did not take kindly to Stewart’s equation of Messi to “God”.
Taking to the comment section of the post, they chided the octogenarian, saying he failed to respect God.
Ana Perković wrote, “I used to like you…”
Paula Rackley wrote, “You just called him, a regular man, a god. That was not very smart.”
Kato Morris Hindiya wrote, “May God forgive us for equating human beings to him.”
Imran Khan wrote, “Perfect example of polytheism. What kind of faith Makes people call any one or thing a God. He is the greatest footballer and looks like ratatouille. What’s makes him a God???”
Muhammad Zaman Nihon wrote, “He is just a human with special ability in the game of football! Nothing more.”
Alexandre Noiseux wrote, “The guy kicks a ball better than everyone. Still far from a God IMHO.”
Blas Servin wrote, “He is not a god, he is a human being with extraordinary abilities in the sport of soccer.”
Markus Haemmer wrote, “You set the level “god” very low… he is just a human as you and I. Just has given talent and trained it.”