Lionel Messi recently completed his soccer legacy after winning the World Cup in Qatar and was seen in heaps of emotions as Argentina lifted the World Cup after 36 years but there was another person who was seen in tears during La Albiceleste’s World Cup campaign, it was Pablo Aimar.
An Argentine star of yesteryears, Pablo could be seen in tears in the dugout beside the head coach, Lionel Scaloni after Lionel Messi scored a goal against Mexico in their 2nd group stage match after suffering a shock loss against Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener.
Aimar recently revealed the reason behind the emotions that were caught on live camera during the game. He talked about how the coaching staff was up for nights after the Saudi Arabia loss and did everything to win the next game and stay alive at the premier event.
Pablo Aimar: “My emotion on Messi’s goal against Mexico? We [coaching staff] had spent a week almost without sleep after the game against Saudi Arabia. It was the relief of a tension week.” 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/TozJ8ElmBA
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) February 22, 2023
He said: “My emotion on Messi’s goal against Mexico? We had spent a week almost without sleep after the game against Saudi Arabia. It was the relief of a tension week.”
Argentina were down and out after a shock loss against Saudi in the first game but they came back in the next game as their star man led his country with a goal from outside the box which caused celebrations across the whole nation. Messi further won the Golden Ball and helped his team lift the World Cup.
Lionel Messi remains a fan of Pablo Aimar to this day
Pablo Aimar is a star of the previous generation of Argentinian players who was seen as the successor to the legendary Diego Maradona. He started his career at River Plate where he impressed several legends like Maradona and Johan Cruyff and was primed with a move to Europe.
Messi previously has revealed that Aimar was his idol in his childhood days as he possessed brilliant ball control and passing range. Aimar moved to Valencia from River Plate before transferring to Benfica.
Lionel Messi alongside his idol, Pablo Aimar, who is part of the Argentina coaching staff. pic.twitter.com/YIgU7ST0AB
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) July 11, 2021
Talking about Aimar, Messi said: “Pablo Aimar was, and is, my idol. I really like to watch him play and I have followed his career since the beginning at River Plate.”
Aimar also talked about Messi after getting to know that Messi considers him his idol. He stated that he loved what Messi did on the field as well as how he is off the field in person. He was ecstatic to know that the legendary Lionel Messi idolized him in his early days.
Aimar said: “I really like how well Leo can be who he is beyond football, which is impressive. I admire him in that sense. It is a pride that Leo said that I was his idol.”
It is a bit of a fairytale ending for both as Aimar could never win the World Cup with Argentina in his playing days but did so as part of the coaching staff as Lionel Messi led his idol and his nation to the World Cup trophy after a long, long wait.