Lionel Messi speaks English as he features alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in promo video for Bad Boys 4, clip goes viral
Lionel Messi shocked the internet as he spoke in English in a recent promotional video for the fourth installment of the Bad Boys series, Ride of Die, set to hit theaters on June 7. The Argentine featured alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the video.
In the video, Leo Messi is seen approaching Smith and Lawrence at their house in a hilarious attempt to become a 'Bad Boy' and join them. However, the co-stars jokingly reject him by asking him to try a different address and closing the door on his face.
When Messi approaches Smith and Lawrence at the door, he makes a surprising attempt to speak English, asking if he reached the right house where the 'Bad Boys' live.
"Bad Boys?" Messi said.
"Wrong casa. Mucho gusto. [Wrong house. Nice to meet you]," Smith and Lawrence said.
Messi is supposedly rejected because of his popular good boy image or stature, although nothing is explicitly stated in the video. The clip also featured NBA superstar Jimmy Butler who represents Miami Heat. It should be taken all in good humor, as the video was only made to promote the upcoming Bad Boys film.
Lionel Messi's Inter Miami teammate Julian Gressel recalled incident where Messi spoke in English
Although the Bad Boys commercial marks one of the few times Lionel Messi has publicly spoken in English, his Inter Miami teammate Julian Gressel previously shared that he heard La Pulga speak the language before.
On the Player Manager podcast earlier this year in March, Gressel revealed that Leo Messi spoke to him in English during one of Miami's matches against Al- Hilal.
“I asked him if he speaks any English and he was like, 'No, not really, your Spanish is probably better than my English.' There was one moment in Saudi, I forget which game it was but maybe the first game, against Al Hilal and he came over to me and spoke to me in English. It was the first time he spoke to me in English," Gressel said. (via EssentiallySports)
Julian Gressel further revealed that during matches, Lionel Messi covers his mouth to avoid the several cameras pointed at him. The German full-back recalled the incident, noting how Messi discussed game tactics with him during the match against Al-Hilal.
“During the game, he covers his mouth because there are always a billion cameras on him. He covers his mouth and says, 'Now, we change. You stay and Jordi (Alba) runs, Jordi goes more in behind," he recalled.
Gressel said that Messi later asked him how good his English was and the German claimed to have "understood everything".
"I was just like, 'Yes, ok - sounds good!' The funny part was after, he goes 'English, pretty good, no?' I was like, 'Yes, very very good! I understood everything!" Julian Gressel said.
Lionel Messi can speak fluent Spanish and Catalan. The Argentine has always spoken at press conferences and other such public events in Spanish.