Lionel Messi has opened up on his gratitude towards his Paris Saint-Germain teammates for their World Cup guard of honour for him – although Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi were missing from the squad.
Messi was the hero in Argentina’s remarkable final victory over France but the superstar was beaten to the Golden Boot by his club team-mate, who netted a stunning hat-trick in the showpiece event at the Lusail Stadium which may be remembered as the tournament’s greatest ever final.
Lionel Messi has opened up on his gratitude towards his Paris Saint-Germain teammates for their World Cup guard of honour for him – although Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi were missing from the squad.
Messi was the hero in Argentina’s remarkable final victory over France but the superstar was beaten to the Golden Boot by his club team-mate, who netted a stunning hat-trick in the showpiece event at the Lusail Stadium which may be remembered as the tournament’s greatest ever final.
He was handed a hero’s welcome upon his return to PSG training on Wednesday.
Mbappe and teammate Hakimi were both granted leave by the club’s boss Christophe Galtier after the Ligue 1 leaders lost their unbeaten record with a defeat against Lens. Neither player was therefore present for Messi’s homecoming, although Mbappe’s younger brother Ethan was in attendance after recently joining PSG’s first-team squad.
“Hakimi and Mbappe will have a few days off,” Galtier confirmed after PSG crashed to a 3-1 loss at Lens – their first domestic defeat of his rein and first since March last year. “The plan was that they could play these two games. They will now recover.”
Messi took to Instagram on Wednesday to write: “Many thanks to my teammates and all the people from the club for the welcome they gave me. We are back and looking forward to continuing to meet our goals for this season, now with Paris Saint-Germain!”
Mirror
