Given Lionel Messi’s extraordinary goalscoring feats, many have suggested he must be from another world, but new evidence has emerged that confirms he is very much a human being, just like the rest of us. First it started when he missed a penalty against Austria at the World Cup, but now the Argentine superstar is showing a side of his personality that is rarely seen.
The 39-year-old was scheduled to return to Miami with his teammates on Thursday ahead of Friday night’s Round of 32 match against Cape Verde. As many countries have discovered before boarding private charter flights, even the world’s best soccer players do not exempt themselves from on-tarmac Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening by airport security.
In footage captured by Eldesmarque, Messi can be seen preparing to board the plane alongside his Argentina teammates Rodrigo de Paul and Cristian Romero.
Moments later, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is seen smiling broadly.
In one particular incident, Messi burst out laughing when airport security drew their attention to Tottenham captain Romero’s luggage.
The players had to put their bags through a scanner and pass through a metal detector just like any other traveller.
But not everyone passed without incident. The footage shows the security guard removing a large item from Romero’s suitcase, which is reportedly an oversized spark lighter.
Messi noticed the problem and burst out laughing along with his Argentina colleagues at the enormity of the object. The security guard didn’t seem too amused as the object appeared to have been confiscated.
Video footage of the incident was spread across social media platforms, displaying Messi’s rarely seen humorous nature for everyone to witness.
It’s clear the Rosario-born legend is enjoying the final weeks of what many predict will be his sixth and final World Cup.
Messi has had a great season so far, scoring a hat-trick against Algeria, two goals against Austria and one goal against Jordan.
He is at the top of the scoring list with six goals in three games and many will be expecting him to score again against Cape Verde.
Messi has already surpassed the all-time World Cup goalscoring record for the tournament, with Kylian Mbappé close behind.
Messi, who has already scored 19 goals, will be keen to increase his lead in the next final.
