Lionel Messi made his public debut in English with a quick cameo in an advertisement for the upcoming Bad Boys film starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
The Inter Miami player, who immigrated to the US last year, has never spoken in an interview other than Spanish, so when he made an appearance on Tuesday morning, the fans were shocked.
The brief video, shared on the Bad Boys Instagram page, had Messi approaching Smith and Lawrence’s door.
“Wrong boys?He asks, speaking only two English words to the couple.
The comedians, who play Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnette in the renowned film series, slam the door on the football legend and warn him in a humorous way that he’s at the “wrong house.”
Lionel Messi spoke English publicly for the first time ever during a new Bad Boys commercial
The upcoming comedy film stars A-listers Will Smith and Martin Lawrence
Fans were stunned by the Argentina captain’s surprise appearance in the video.
‘This is the first time in my life I’ve heard Messi speak English,’ one person wrote on X.
‘I never thought this day would come,’ another commented.
A third chimed in, ‘Messi going to the MLS might be one of the best decisions he made,’ while another fan joked, ‘They should give Messi the Oscar already.’
Although the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner doesn’t speak English publicly, his teammate Julian Gressel recently revealed he’s been conversing in English on the pitch.
Messi was heard saying two English words – ‘bad boys’ – in the funny social media clip
Meanwhile, Messi has started giving his Inter Miami teammates tactical instructions in English
He has been learning the language after arriving in the United States last year
‘Between me and Leo we’ve had this running joke a little bit ever since the the first few days,’ the German full-back said on the Player Manager podcast in March.
‘I asked him if he speaks any English and he was like “no, not really, your Spanish is probably better than my English,”‘ he went on.
‘There was one moment in Saudi … he came over to me and spoke to me in English. He covers his mouth and says “now, we change. You stay and Jordi (Alba) runs, Jordi goes more in behind.”‘
‘After, he goes “English, pretty good, no?” I was like “yes, very very good! I understood everything.”‘