Tottenham Hotspur-owned Giovani Lo Celso might have missed the chance to play for Argentina as they secured the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Sunday.
But the out-on-loan Villarreal midfielder made sure he wasn’t going to miss out on the celebrations, as he posted an image of himself on Instagram sitting next to none other than the hero of the show, Lionel Messi, who had the World Cup trophy in hand.
Lo Celso was a key figure in Argentina winning the Copa America and the £27 million star (BBC Sport) was set to play an equally important role out in the Middle East, only for a muscle injury, before the tournament started, to ruin and end that chance.
Instead, he has had to watch on from the sidelines, as Argentina, for the first time since 1986, secured World Cup glory after perhaps the greatest-ever game against France.
It was a game for the ages, six goals, a hat-trick, three penalties, extra-time, stoppage-time saves at point-blank range and then that dreaded and mentally-draining penalty shootout.
It’s going to take a while for all of that dust to settle, but in the meantime, this is what Lo Celso posted on IG, with the caption ‘World Champions. Let’s go Argentina’.
ARGENTINA DO IT THE HARD WAY
With ten or so minutes left of normal time, Argentina thought they were going to stroll to a comfortable win in the biggest game of them all.
But with Kylian Mbappe on the pitch, then there is always the chance for crazy stuff to happen, and within two minutes, the game had turned on its head.
Those cheering on Argentina from the sidelines could bear to look because it looked like they were going to throw it away in the most spectacular of fashions.
That’s when the big boys stepped up, Messi scoring in stoppage-time and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez producing yet another masterclass in between the sticks.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
