Messi missed a penalty in Argentina's game against Iceland, which ended in a 1-1 tie, and later, Argentine journalist Rama Pantarotto gave him his mother's red amulet as a token of good luck. He said that his mother loved Messi more than she loved her son. He said he carried the red ribbon as a token of good luck and, if Messi wanted, he could give it to him.
The journalist also requested Messi to keep the red ribbon somewhere safe since it belonged to his mother because Messi was “kind of jinxed" at that time. Messi smiled as he took the ribbon from him.
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After the red ribbon had been given to him in the belief that it would bring him good luck, the Albiceleste skipper scored a goal in a 2-1 victory in Argentina's final group match against Nigeria that guaranteed their qualification for the Round of 16.
Later during the press interaction, Pantarotto spoke about the amulet, which he assumed Messi had discarded. “I don’t know if you remember. But, my mother gave you a ribbon," the journalist said. Messi smiled and said, “Look at this."
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The journalist was stunned when Messi showed him that he was wearing the red band around his left ankle. “No way, no way," Pantarotto exclaimed, “Did you score the goal with that foot?"
Messi was still smiling as he said that he had scored with the other foot, but it didn’t matter which foot he used. Pantarotto found it hard to believe. pointed to the sky before looking at the camera and saying, "Dear Mom, Messi wore it."
Cut to the victory celebrations of Argentina’s world cup victory: Messi was seen wearing the same red ribbon around his left ankle.
