Have you ever heard of someone winning the Man of the Match award and turning it down? Well Lionel Messi did just that.
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After Argentina’s 2-2 draw against Paraguay on Saturday, Messi was particularly upset with his team’s performance. After scoring a penalty kick and adding an assist to Sergio Aguero’s goal – all in the first half, his team broke down, allowing Paraguay two goals in the second half.
According to Goal.com, a representative from MasterCard who hands out the award after each match went to the Argentina dressing room to award Messi the award.
They were intended to award Messi for his outstanding first-half performance, but, when the representative got to the locker room, the mood was very sombre. The representative was told that none of the Argentina players would accept the award – which shows how disappointed the whole team was with the performance.
Since no Argentinian’s would take the MOTM award, it was decided that one of the two goalscorers from Paraguay, Nelson Valdez and Lucas Barrios, would receive the unwanted honor.
Valdez was on hand, so he received the award, while Messi sulked in the locker room.
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