DUBAI: A witty Argentinean schoolteacher found no better way to hush noisy students inside her classroom than to pose a novel challenge concerning football superstar Lionel Messi.
In a video viewed more than 4 million times on her TikTok account, teacher Margarita Pla recorded herself in the noisy classroom, bringing the room to silence with a brief comment on the rivalry between French star Kylian Mbappe and the Argentina legend.
In the six-second video, Pla, with a light smile on her face, silences the students by saying: “El que siga hablando prefiere a Mbappe sobre Messi (he who keeps talking prefers Mbappe over Messi).”
Media reports said that she had turned to the name of the football legend after failing to silence the class the traditional way.
Noise turned to immediate silence once Messi’s name was mentioned.
Along with the video, the teacher posted a comment saying: “It lasted 10 seconds but it was spectacular … that is the power of the GOAT.”
The video received more than 484,000 likes and 1,400 comments from TikTok users around the world.
Rakibul, a user from Bangladesh, said: “I just saw this video on a TV channel in Bangladesh.”
Another user, Noman, said: “Messi is king.”
One user said: “Messi has got to see this video.”
Meanwhile, user Martinez said: “Hahaha … even I was silenced.”
Pla received congratulatory comments over her “smart and witty” behavior.
One user said: “There is a chance that Messi might see this TikTok and that would be marvelous.” Pla replied: “I’d go crazy.”
Pla is not the first teacher to bring students in line using a football reference. In a similar act to calm a classroom shortly before the FIFA World Cup last year, Argentina high school professor Amadeo Laguesn silenced students by writing on a blackboard: “Those who speak, hate La Scaloneta.”
La Scaloneta is a nickname for the country’s national team that refers to head coach Lionel Scaloni.
