Picture Credit: Twitter
An enthusiastic Chinese fan invaded pitch to hug Argentina captain Lionel Messi at their friendly against Australia. The game that took place at the Workers Stadium in Beijing, China saw the 2022 World Cup winners winning the game 2-0 against their rivals. Not only this, but Messi also scored the first goal for his team within 80 seconds into the game, making it the fastest goal of his career.
In the second half of the game, Messi was standing close to the corner flag when the fan jumped onto the ground and hugged him. The World Cup winning captain was left startled at the moment the fan entered but quickly wrapped his arms around the Chinese fan before he was chased by the security.
Watch the video here:
In a video doing rounds on social media, the fan could be seen invading the pitch, being chased all over by the security. The crowd in the stadium could be heard shouting Chinese phrases that roughly translate to ‘Awesome’ and ‘Badass’.
Before making his way back, the fan ran across the pitch, high-fiving the Argentina goal-keeper Emiliano Martinez. Eventually, the invader was taken off by the security.
However, after the match, in an interview with Messi’s fan club, the fan apologised for his behaviour, but criticised the Chinese security. Messi assisted in setting up German Pezzella’s goal in the 68th minute of the game. In Argentina’s third game since taking down France in the World Cup in 2022, Messi scored the first goal in one minute and 19 seconds into the play, which was his 103rd goal for his team.
