In what could be seen as his final act for the national team, Lionel Messi has given personalised gifts to his teammates.
Speculation has been rife over Messi’s international future after he was unable to inspire his country to back-to-back World Cup trophies as they were beaten 1-0 by Spain in the final.
Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in the 106th-minute, with the match being marred by ugly scenes afterwards as a fight broke out on the pitch with Leandro Paredes throwing punches at Spain players.
Kelci-Rose Bowers, the girlfriend of Argentine defender Marcos Senesi, revealed what Messi left for all of his teammates.
Bowers wore an Argentina jersey as she displayed a brown bag which featured the logo of the Argentine Football Association and an image of the World Cup, and the name ‘Marcos Senesi’.
She said: “I have to show you guys something really cool. You will be very happy to see this. Marcos brought this bag from the camp. It also has his name written on it.”
“This is his mate set. Messi gave this gift to all the players.”
The bag contained a golden Stanley thermos with Messi’s brand logo, a mate cup, a packet of yerba and a metal straw with a spoon.
Mate is a caffeine-rich herbal drink that is synonymous in South America.
It is made by soaking dried yerba mate leaves in hot water and is traditionally served with a metal straw.
Despite being of English heritage, Bowers was seen wearing an Argentina shirt as La Albiceleste beat Switzerland in the quarter final.
As Senesi starred for the men’s team in the Premier League, Kelci-Rose was a regular for the women’s team.
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She spent time in the Chelsea and Southampton youth teams growing up.
After a period in USA playing at Louisiana State University, she returned to the UK, before moving to Bournemouth, where she met former Cherries centre-half Senesi.
Senesi has since completed a move to Tottenham Hostspur, signing with Roberto De Zerbi’s squad on a four-year contract.
The Cherries were resigned to losing Senesi since he refused to sign a new deal in December.
The 29-year-old agreed to stay at the club in January despite interest from Chelsea and played all-but one match in the 2025/26 campaign as Bournemouth qualified for the Europa League.
The north London club, who narrowly escaped relegation from the Premier League, have also signed free agent Andy Robertson this summer.
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