I didn’t see that coming.
Well, suppose it’s better than going out to pasture in the USA’s MLS 
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The money he will be receiving is insane.
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Is anyone able to discern whether a pic is fake or real? Tried to find the source of this pic (think it was a reply on twitter) but am unable to ascertain whether it’s fake or real. Tried to do a reverse image search but it was inconclusive. Thanks a bunch.
It appears (cropped) on this major sports news website, which suggests it’s real?
https://www.ole.com.ar/messi/messi-contrato-psg-renovacion_0_5s9odaQ7jK.amp.html
FIFA has framed new rules regarding the guardianship of the trophy. Unlike the Jules Rimet Trophy, the winning nations and future winners don’t get to hold the original trophy anymore. Instead, they are given a gold-plated bronze replica provided by FIFA.
So it seems plausible players get a day with the replica.
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Cheers mate. Appreciated.
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Yeah, picture looks real to me. But definately cannot be the real trophy. The thing is so valuable it would be impossible to secure. Especially since the original was stolen and never recovered.
I like what the NFL does with the Super Bowl winners rings. That way they dont have a super valuable trophy but everyone gets something.
My big question about Messi’s picture is: why is he taking a selfie in his hotel room? Doesn’t he have a hot women in the room to take the picture?
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Should they really be doing lines off the trophy?
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For most teams absolutely no way.
But this is Argentina: I can only imagine what Maradona would have done with his trophy in a hotel room with his friends 
EDIT: I love Maradona, btw. He was one of a kind and not to be seen again. Even though he was responsible for the “hand of God” goal.
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Khabib pretty much alone (as a spectator) at the Camp Nou when no one else was allowed during the pandemic constitutes a flex. Paris thrashed Barcelona 4-1 with a hat trick by Mbappe. One of the many reasons Messi later went to Paris and won the World Cup as a PSG player. He wouldn’t have been able to do so had he stayed in Barcelona.
How beautiful is the Camp Nou btw! Old but beautiful.
Or should I say, old AND beautiful 
European football needs a strong Barcelona.
You don’t know that.
That is like saying PSG will win the Champions League every year because they signed Messi.
Next time you watch a game and the commentator says about any player who missed some chances to score, “He could have had 3 goals in this half”.
The reality is he (did not) would not have, based on that observation.
Had he scored the first goal, everything that happened afterwards, which you watched, would never have happened - those other chances the commentator mentioned. The game would have turned out differently. Maybe his team would have ‘parked the bus’, substituted the player, changed the formation, an opposing player may have tackled him and he got seriously injured, a pitch invasion happened and the game was abandoned, etc…
Of course, he may have had other chances and scored other goals.
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All valid and salient points. I was alluding to the fact that Barcelona is (by consensus) a horribly run football club these days. On a sporting/football and business/financial level. Messi himself said many a time that Barcelona simply can’t win the Champions League as is. The ingredients for such a deep run into the CL campaign simply weren’t there (sporting/football and business/financial wise).
Messi loved Barcelona (the city). The club, on the other hand (under Bartomeu), failed him.
Now let’s look at PSG. For all intents and purposes, the club is owned by the state of Qatar, one of the richest nations in the world. I’m ecstatic Messi won the World Cup but we shouldn’t pretend that sportswashing isn’t being perpetrated by Qatar (and Saudi Arabia) at the highest level. All the “ingredients” conducive to a successful World Cup campaign were there for Messi, whether it be the fact that it’s held in Qatar, Argentina being one of the favorites (already Champions of South America) him finding a new lease of life in Paris, the FIFA (and heads of state) powers that be all having a vested interest in this particular tournament outdoing previous World Cups (sportswashing), penalties generously awarded to Argentina etc.
Confluence of events led to Argentina and Messi winning the World Cup. Wouldn’t say that World Cup success can be bought per se but a gentle guiding hand (behind the scenes and otherwise) can greatly influence matters (if one can sway matters of global import politically, then certainly sports) FIFA’s The Best awards will crown him as the Best Player of the Year later today. Many already consider him the greatest of all time, not just in football, in all of sports. He is, indisputably.
Many people consider this World Cup (and the World Cup final) as THE greatest of all time. (That’s saying something, apropos a sporting event that outdoes even the Olympics in terms of pure unadulterated human emotion and sheer spectacle). I, for one, love the Olympics (can’t wait for Paris 2024) but many people pay only cursory attention to the Olympics). Say what you want about Qatar, but if you were a Qatar insider you would say that “we did our job rather well, exceeding expectations.”
Football | UEFA Champions LeagueDidn’t know where else to put this but Mikaela has broken the record for World Cup wins. Been following this keenly.
Looking forward to the Rugby World Cup in France. Should be a corker.
Would love to have this fella in the World Cup.
Well, I wouldn’t worry about it, Norway will easily qualify, and even Krakatoa and the Lost City of Atlantis will qualify for the next World Cup as FIFA keep adding more and more bloody teams (all in the name of sporting integrity naturally).
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