Messi, team take helicopter over 4 million people crowd in Argentina

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Dec 2022 16:37

The players of Argentina's national team had to be transported by helicopter for their safety.

Messi and the team aboard the helicopter (CNN)

Following a majestic win for Argentina, champion Lionel Messi who has finally won his first World Cup title and his teammates had to take a helicopter to go around Buenos Aires, instead of participating in the bus parade celebration, due to the unusually massive volume of the crowds in the city's streets.

More than four million people were on the streets ready to welcome the players, which led to the players having to take a helicopter to avoid safety risks.

Argentina's defeat of France 4-2 on penalties got them the World Cup for the third time, with its previous victories being back in 1978 and 1986.

Messi scored two goals and was thus named the best player of the tournament. He was up against French upcoming star Kylian Mbappe whom he played against. With the penalty spot in the first half, Messi initially gave Argentina the edge toward victory before Mbappe scored twice in the 80th and 81st minutes to level it at 2-2.

Despite finishing second behind Messi in that contest, Mbappe took home the Golden Boot for the tournament's best scorer with eight goals, one more than the Argentine captain.

In case you don't know
Lionel Messi scored 18 Goals for Argentina 🇦🇷 this year.

Which makes it "Most International Goals in a calendar year" ever 🤯 pic.twitter.com/iXSpaDLtCj
— Tommy 🎩 (@Shelby_Messi) December 21, 2022