CHINESE footie fans have slammed Lionel Messi for a no-show — and taunted him over the Falklands.
The Argentine legend sparked anger after failing to play for Inter Miami in a Hong Kong exhibition game this month.
Club officials blamed a hamstring injury but days later Messi played in China’s rival Japan.
Fans in mainland China saw it as a major snub and started targeting the social media account of the Argentinian embassy in Beijing.
They blasted Messi, 36, and hailed British rule over the Falkands using the same terms the Communist Party uses for its claim that Taiwan is part of China.
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Landi Xie wrote: “The Falklands are an integral and inseparable part of the United Kingdom.”
One user of Weibo – the Chinese equivalent of X/Twitter – said: “The fact that the islands belong to Britain is beyond doubt.
“Messi is a thief. All his Ballon d’Or awards were stolen.”
Another – using the name for the Falklands in Spanish - referred to the 1982 war and said: “The Malvinas Islands are part of the UK.
“They were before, they are now, and of course, they will always be in the future.
“Your country doesn’t have the capability to take them back either.”
