Lionel Messi has faced a wrath of insults on his official Facebook page from Iran supporters.
The Barcelona phenomenon was the subject of a series of negative messages following the draw for the World Cup group stages last week.
Argentina were drawn in Group F - alongside Bosnia, Nigeria and Asia qualifiers Iran - in what is a somewhat straightforward group for the South Americans.
And following a recent post on his Facebook page, Messi was taunted by over 40,000 Iran supporters ahead of the clash in Brazil next summer.
The 26-year-old had uploaded a clip of a new 'selfie shootout' between him and Kobe Bryant for Turkish Airlines - prior to the abuse.
However, the negative comments were soon outweighed by favourable ones - as many Iranian natives apologised for the remarks, insisting that Messi will continue to be a hero to them.