PM Narendra Modi receives Lionel Messi's Argentina shirt as a gift during India Energy Week - See pics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received a special gift from Pablo Gonzalez, the president of Argentine energy company YPF. Gonzalez gifted a jersey of the Argentinian football team featuring their talismanic captain Lionel Messi's name and his iconic No.10. Modi was handed the shirt on the sidelines of the Indian Energy Week in Bengaluru.

Considered one of the greatest football players of all time, Messi led Argentina to the World Cup title last year. Following Argentina's victory, PM Modi took to social media to congratulate the team. "This will be remembered as one of the most thrilling football matches! Congrats to Argentina on becoming #FIFAWorldCup Champions! They've played brilliantly through the tournament. Millions of Indian fans of Argentina and Messi rejoice in the magnificent victory!" the Modi wrote in his tweet after the World Cup final.

Messi scored seven goals in the 2022 World Cup and a number of assists as well as he led Argentina to their first title since 1986. Diego Maradona was famously the captain when they had won the title then and the legendary late footballer had once named Messi as his "heir".

The 35-year-old had later said that he would have liked it if Maradona had handed him the trophy. "I would have liked him, if he didn't hand me the World Cup trophy, to at least see all this," Messi told Spanish radio show Perros de la calle. "I think that both he and many people who love me were pushing from above, not only for this but for everything in general," he further added.

Messi also admitted that he did not like the fact that he lost his cool after Argentina's dramatic and ill-tempered quarter-final match against the Netherlands. The Paris St Germain star could be seen shouting at Netherlands striker Wout Weghorst during an interview after the game and could also be seen confronting Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal and his staff after the game.

“It came out at the moment. I knew everything that had been discussed before the game, what Van Gaal had said. I don't like what I did,” he said about a celebration he directed towards the Netherlands coach after scoring a goal.

“I reacted that way," he then said about shouting at Weghorst. “There had been many things with this player, moments of tension like these . . . I was at the mixed zone, it had just happened. I don’t like to leave that image, but these things happen,” said Messi.

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