By Taiwo Ibrahim
Lionel Messi has taken to Instagram to show off David Beckham’s gift to him to celebrate his 37th birthday on Monday, Sportivationng.com reports.
The Argentinian superstar clocked 37 on Monday and the football world stood still to celebrate one of the greatest players to grace the pitch.
Messi is currently on Copa America duty with Argentina while people from all walks of life took to the social media to celebrate his greatness.
Chief among them is the former England and Real Madrid star, David Beckham, who is also the co-owner of Inter Miami, where Messi currently plies his club trade.
Beckham presented Messi with a bottle of Catena Zapata, a brand of wine that has been in existence for over 100 years from Argentina, as the pair posed for pictures.
He also took to Instagram to celebrate the big occasion with Messi.
Beckham wrote: “Happy Birthday to the greatest,” Beckham said. Messi replied with a simple: “Thank you very much David!!!”
Similarly, Messi’s wife Antonela Rocuzzo posted a family picture on Instagram to wish him happy birthday.
She wrote: “Happy birthday love, Leo Messi. We love you endlessly.”
Under the Instagram post, Messi responded: “Thank you very much my life, I love you and I miss you!!!”
Messi and Antonella have been dating since their teenage years before they tied the knot in 2017, the couple have three children together, Thiago, Matteo and Ciro.
Barcelona, PSG and football fans also took to social media to celebrate with Messi.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has opened up on the reason he walks around on the pitch during football matches.
He said: “When I was at Newell’s, there were two or three times a week we were sent to run around the grounds. I used to hide behind a tree. Running without a ball was never my thing. Heh.
“I have always been very self-critical. I am the first to know what I do right and what I do wrong. When I walk, I analyse the opponent’s positioning, how we stand when we don’t have the ball, get away from the marker and be able to initiate a counterattack.
“I don’t pay much attention to GPS, statistics or data. I never cared how much I ran in a match.”
Lionel Messi ended his agonising wait for a World Cup trophy in 2022 when he led Argentina to their third triumph in the history of the competition.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has enjoyed a glittering career, winning all there is to win in football, which includes four Champions League trophies, 10 La Liga titles and many more.
He has won a total of 44 collective trophies, the most in the history of football with numerous individual accolades.
Messi has also scored 837 goals and recorded 373 assists in 1065 games in his career so far.
