Lionel Messi became Argentina’s greatest hero when he led his country to a historic World Cup campaign, winning the trophy in a great manner. Millions of his fellow citizens paid tribute to the legend, chanting and crowding him wherever he went.
Even his own teammates love him to the point where they are fans of him. It is not surprising considering how he led the team to become a solid group of people who would follow his every command on the pitch. One such teammate of his is Nicolas Otamendi, who proved his love for his captain in many ways.
Lionel Messi disputes with Otamendi over armband
Argentina played a game against Paraguay on Friday, beating them 1-0 thanks to an incredible volley from Benfica defender Nicolas Otamendi. It was their third victory in their three World Cup qualifying games so far.
Lionel Messi had to sit out the game on the bench as he was still recovering from his recent injury issue. Due to this, Otamendi was the captain, wearing the armband and leading the team.
Le Roi Messi qui fait signe à Otamendi de garder le brassard de capitaine mais ce dernier refuse par respect pour la grandeur du Roi Messi. pic.twitter.com/JV2p6jkwVr
— Inzho ⭐️ (@Inzho10) October 13, 2023
In the 53rd minute, Julian Alavarez was substituted and Messi entered the pitch. While he was waiting on the touchline, he noticed Otamendi coming towards him and understood why. The defender wanted to hand over the armband to the captain, and Messi was humble enough that he refused it. He kept waving his finger to tell him no, but Otamendi didn’t take no for an answer. He strapped the armband around the Inter Miami star, who was finally smiling at his compatriot’s gesture.
Messi couldn’t have much more impact in the game, though he came close to two goals, each time hitting the woodwork. He is still recovering from the injury that has kept him on the sidelines for quite some time, missing many crucial games for Inter Miami, leading to them losing the US Open Cup and the MLS playoff spots.
Otamendi showed off Messi tattoos
Otamendi’s recent gesture for his captain is not the only one in recent times. He respects Lionel Messi so much that he has tattoos of the seven time Ballon d’Or winner on his body.
He had shared it on Instagram after they won the World Cup, and the pictures showed a large depiction of Messi’s first time touching the trophy after winning the final. Above the tattoos, three words were written: ‘Enthusiasm, Conviction and Ambition’, and underneath was written, ‘How are they going to tell me that magic doesn’t exist?’ along with the date of the final.
The video was shared by Otamendi and soon Messi also replied to it, “I’ve seen a lot of spectacular things that were made of me about the [World] cup, but that a colleague, a friend like Nicolas Otamendi gets this tattoo is something more than special.”
It is clear that Lionel Messi is widely beloved, with even his teammates being big fans of him. After all, he led the world to success after many years. Messi will next play with Argentina on Wednesday, when they face Peru in an away fixture.
