Qatar 2022: Lucky charm may have aided Messi success

When Lionel Messi posed holding the World Cup trophy this week, he appeared to be wearing the same lucky charm that was given to him by an Argentina fan four years ago.

The charm, a red ribbon, was handed to Messi by Argentinian journalist Rama Pantarotto after the Argentine superstar had had a penalty saved as his team drew 1-1 with Iceland in the opening group match at the finals in Russia.

As he came through the mixed zone after the match he was handed the charm by Pantarotto, who said it was given to him by his mother who loved Messi more than she loved him. Pantarotto carried it as a token of good luck and offered it to Messi on condition that he kept it somewhere safe.

Messi went on to score in a 2-1 win over Nigeria in the final group match which sent Argentina into the last-16. After the game Pantarotto approached Messi in the mixed zone, assuming that he discarded the ribbon. “I don’t know if you remember. But, my mother gave you a ribbon,” Pantarotto said.

Messi smiled and said, “Look at this”, pointing to the ribbon around his ankle.

After Argentina beat France in a penalty shoot out on Sunday, Messi posted a picture on Instagram of him holding the trophy alongside Gonzalo Montiel in the dressing room. His bare ankle revealed he was wearing a red ribbon exactly like the one given to him by Pantarotto.

It is not clear if it is the same one. In between the World Cups, Messi gave the ribbon to Philippe Coutinho at the time that the Brazil attacking midfielder was struggling for form after his £142 million move from Liverpool to Barcelona in 2018.

The gesture came back to haunt Messi as Coutinho impressed on loan at Bayern Munich in the following season at the expense of Barcelona in the Champions League.

Coutinho scored twice for Bayern as they thrashed Messi’s team 8-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals and went on to lift the Champions League in 2020.