Argentina stars wake Lionel Messi in the middle of the night to wish him ‘Happy Birthday’ and hand over presents as Barcelona forward turns 34 at the Copa America… but his grumpy room-mate Sergio Aguero just want to go back to sleep!
- Lionel Messi celebrated his 34th birthday on Argentina duty at Copa America
- His team-mates woke him up in the middle of the night to deliver his presents
- A huge jug of water, a baseball cap and a bottle of wine were among the gifts
- But Messi’s room-mate Sergio Aguero just wants to go back to sleep again
- Argentina have already booked their place in the last eight of the Copa America
Lionel Messi celebrated his 34th birthday on Thursday and his happy Argentine team-mates took the first possible opportunity to celebrate the occasion with him.
Wielding a birthday cake and signing ‘Happy Birthday’, they went into Messi’s room at their Copa America base in Brazil and made sure he received his presents in the middle of the night.
The gifts handed over by Angel Di Maria, Nicolas Otamendi and other team-mates appeared to include a huge bottle of water, a baseball cap and a bottle of wine.
Messi looked delighted to receive his presents in the middle of the night on his 34th birthday
There was plenty of laughter as Messi’s Argentina team-mates handed over his presents
Messi was already tucked up in bed when his team-mates came in with gifts and a cake
Messi looked thrilled by the midnight surprise but his room-mate Sergio Aguero was distinctly unimpressed.
In the video of the moment, posted on Messi’s Instagram account later in the day, Aguero can be seen pulling the bed covers back over him and going back to sleep.
Barcelona star Messi wrote: ‘Thank you very much for a special day, even though I am not with the family who I miss a lot at the moment.’
Although the Argentina squad are in a Covid-secure bubble away from friends and family for the duration of their stay at the tournament, it hasn’t diminished their success on the field.
Messi’s room-mate Sergio Aguero wasn’t too chuffed to have his sleep disturbed, however
Messi celebrates Argentina’s goal in their latest Copa America match against Paraguay
They currently top Group A with seven points following 1-0 wins over Uruguay and Paraguay plus a 1-1 draw with Chile in which Messi scored their first goal of the Copa.
Argentina sit out the latest round of fixtures on Thursday before concluding the group phase against Bolivia in Cuiaba on Monday next week.
The pressure is off in that fixture with Argentina already assured of their passage into the quarter-finals.
Argentina have already secured their place in the quarter-finals after two wins and a draw
It’s been a trickier Copa for Argentina than expected after they were forced to give up home advantage following a late switch to Brazil because of rising Covid-19 cases back home.
Messi achieved a personal record in the win over Paraguay by equalling Javier Mascherano’s record of 147 matches for Argentina. He has scored 73 goals in that time.
