Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez surprised Aston Villa team-mate Matty Cash with a Lionel Messi shirt after Argentina and Poland met at the World Cup.
The Villa colleagues were on opposite sides in Qatar on Wednesday, with Martinez keeping goal for the South Americans and England-born Cash representing Poland for the 10th time. The right-back was one of those tasked with keeping Messi and Co quiet for 90 minutes with a World Cup knockout spot at stake.
Argentina won 2-0 but Messi failed to score for the first time this tournament, seeing a penalty saved by Wojciech Szczesny. Poland still went through in second place, though, and there was an extra bonus for a clearly starstruck Cash after the game.
"The best thing about it was, at the end of the game, Emi Martinez comes up to me and he says 'Cashy, I've got you a present,'" Cash told talkSPORT. "I was like 'oh, what could this be?'"
"So he's gone 'follow me', so I've gone in the tunnel with him and he's gone in the changing room. He's gone 'wait there' and he's walked out with a Messi shirt for me.
"It's amazing, it doesn't get any better than that. But seeing him in real life up close - I think he walked past me at half time and I was looking at him like 'that's Messi!'"
Argentina went into the game against Poland needing a win to guarantee a spot in the last 16, but things were all-square at half-time. They got the job done after the break, though, with Alexis Mac Allister opening the scoring and Julian Alvarez doubling their lead.
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Poland were left sweating on the result in the other game, with Mexico one goal away from leapfrogging them as they entered added time against Saudi Arabia. Instead, though, Saudi forward Salem Al-Dawsari struck at the death to send Poland through ahead of Mexico on goal difference.
Cash and his colleagues now face a last-16 clash against reigning world champions France, who topped their group despite losing their final game against Tunisia. Argentina, meanwhile, will go up against Australia for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Messi was full of praise for team-mates Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez after the pair came into the starting line-up against Poland. Both players began the tournament on the bench before coming in to assert themselves.
"They know what they have to do when it's their turn to come in," the Paris Saint-Germain star said after Argentina booked their place in the next round. "That's the strength of this group. When they have to come in, they respond" .
