Getty Lionel Messi and Neymar in the Copa America final
Lionel Messi was spotted chatting with former Barcelona teammate Neymar after the final of the Copa America on Saturday which saw Argentina win the trophy with a 1-0 win over the Selecao.
The two players met in the tunnel after the game, along with Neymar’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate Leandro Paredes, and spent some time chatting and laughing after a hard-fought 90 minutes.
Messi & Neymar after the match 🤝
Paredes has now spoken to TyC Sports about what the two superstars discussed and how surprised he was to find both players so relaxed and humble after playing in such an important game, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.
“We had agreed to change our jerseys at the end of the match, but we couldn’t do it. I was in the field celebrating and I went to get the phone to talk to my family. I had a message from him [Neymar] saying that he was waiting for me outside, so I went to look for him,” he said. “The truth is that we do not talk about the final, we talked about how we were, how the family was, what we were going to do now on vacation. Beyond the stars that they are, the humility they have to sit down after such an important final, and talk about other things, is incredible.”
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Neymar Talks Messi Hug
Neymar also met up with Messi on the pitch after the final whistle and embraced his former teammate after the 34-year-old finally ended his long wait for an international title.
The Brazilian took to Instagram to explain how painful is what to lose the match and exactly what he told Messi as they embraced on the pitch at the famous Maracana Stadium.
He wrote, “Losing hurts me, it hurts me…it’s something I haven’t learned to live with yet. Yesterday when I lost, I went to give a hug to the biggest and best in history that I’ve seen play. My friend and brother Messi, I got sad and told him ‘son of b*tch you beat me’ I’m too sad to have lost. But this guy is f**king awesome! I have a lot of respect for what he did for football and especially for me. HATE TO LOSE!!! But enjoy your title, football was waiting for you at this moment! CONGRATS HDP BROTHER.”
Neymar To Miss Out On Messi Reunion
Neymar has openly admitted he would like to play with Messi again before the Argentine hangs up his boots but that now looks extremely unlikely. The Brazilian extended his contract with PSG before the Copa America, signing a deal that runs until 2025.
There had been speculation that Messi could head to the Ligue 1 side but the Argentine is expected to put pen to paper on a new five-year deal with Barcelona shortly, according to Ferran Correas at L’Esportiu.
Messi will take a “significant” pay cut to help out with Barcelona’s financial situation and could also see out the deal which expires when he will be 39, despite previous reports he would only spend two more seasons at the Camp Nou and then head to Major League Soccer for a spell.
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