Lionel Messi Gives A Matured Response During A Shirt Exchange
Lionel Messi showed A classy with Elche goalkeeper, when Messi asked they swap shirts out of congratulations.
Former Manchester United midfielder Angel Gomes was in shock on Sunday night after bagging Lionel Messi’s shirt.
But it seems he didn’t expect the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner to ask for his jersey in return.
The 21-year-old currently plies his trade with French side Lille, who were hammered by Paris Saint-Germain 5-1 at the Parc des Princes.
Danilo Pereira opened the scoring for the Parisians, with Presnel Kimpembe and Messi also getting on the score sheet before halftime.
Pereira netted again in the second term before Kylian Mbappe completed the quintet of goals.
It was the second-largest defeat of the season for the Ligue 1 champions who were beaten 4-0 by Nice at the start of the 2021/22 campaign.
But there was a silver lining for young Gomes, who managed to acquire Messi’s shirt after the match – a gift many football fans can only dream of being given.
Before walking away with his trophy, the England U21 star was unexpectedly stopped by the Argentine, who proceeded to ask for his shirt in return.
Portuguese Lille player Angel Gomes couldn't believe it when Lionel Messi also wanted his shirt 😂
— 𝙔 (@Youssef10i) February 7, 2022
Starstruck by the former Barcelona player’s request, Gomes quickly obliges before heading off down the tunnel with his new piece of football memorabilia.
It is a classy moment from Messi, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen the Argentine respect his opponents when swapping shirts.
Back in February 2021, the striker scored a brace of goals for Barca in a 3-0 win over Elche.
Thanks mainly to Messi’s genius, the Blaugrana whitewashed the La Liga side, but his brilliance didn’t just end at the final whistle.
After the match, Elche goalkeeper Edgar Badia approached the Barcelona captain and asked him for his shirt.
Obliging, the striker passed his jersey over to the ‘keeper, but catching Badia off guard, Messi completed the customary football tradition, asking for his shirt in return.
As many would see this as a common courtesy, it is the heartwarming reaction from the goalkeeper that makes this clip so special.
Badia almost had to pinch himself in the shock that the great Messi wanted his shirt in return.
And the Argentine just couldn’t help but laugh at the goalkeeper’s reaction, before being presented with the Elche player’s jersey.
Take a look at the exchange in the video clip below…
Enorme el gesto de Leo Messi con Edgar Badía. pic.twitter.com/eO88q757KP
— Mad.🏹 (@MadFCB_) February 24, 2021
Pure brilliance from Messi.
While we’ll never know if the Argentine has hung up Gomes and Badia’s jerseys on his massive wall of football shirts, there is no doubt that the striker is all class when it comes to respecting opponents and football traditions.
