--- title: Lionel Messi Just Stunned A Reporter, No Footwork Required description: Even Argentinian soccer legend Lionel Messi needs a good luck charm occasionally and this reporter gave him one. canonical: https://time.com/5325083/lionel-messi-world-cup/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-28T16:31:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:36.036Z og:title: Lionel Messi Stunned a Reporter and It Wasn't on the Field og:description: Even Messi needs a good luck charm occasionally og:url: https://time.com/5325083/lionel-messi-world-cup/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59db38ad2a64f0a8/6988dabafb4eac67d0893688/170825-athlete-splurges-lionel-messi2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 170825-athlete-splurges-lionel-messi og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lionel Messi Stunned a Reporter and It Wasn't on the Field twitter:description: Even Messi needs a good luck charm occasionally twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59db38ad2a64f0a8/6988dabafb4eac67d0893688/170825-athlete-splurges-lionel-messi2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Lionel Messi Totally Stunned a Reporter and It Wasn’t Even on The Soccer Field by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 28, 2018 4:31 PM UTC  FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, looks on during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between FC Barcelona and Betis at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, looks on during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between FC Barcelona and Betis at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017.Manu Fernandez—AP by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jun 28, 2018 4:31 PM UTC Lionel Messi and the Argentina national men’s soccer team haven’t been having their best go of it at the [World Cup](http://time.com/5314646/fifa-world-cup-2018-russia-shocks-surprises/). They tied [Iceland](http://time.com/longform/iceland-2018-fifa-world-cup/) and lost to Croatia, and barely squeaked past [Nigeria](http://time.com/5320050/iceland-nigeria-argentina-world-cup/) to make it to the knock-out round of the global soccer competition. Turns out that Messi had a little assistance in helping his team eke out a victory. Argentinian soccer reporter, Rama Pantarotto revealed Messi’s secret in a video posted on Twitter. Pantarotto had interviewed the FC Barcelona star recently during the World Cup and presented him with a gift. “My mom loves you more than she loves me,” he says in the video, and shows Messi a red ribbon he carries for good luck. He then gave Messi the little amulet. After Tuesday’s big win, the reporter asked Messi is he still had the good luck charm. “Look,” Messi says in the clip, pulling down his sock to reveal the ribbon. Pantarotto was stunned, saying, “No way! No way!” He couldn’t help but ask Messi if that was the foot that scored the team’s opening goal against Nigeria, and Messi had to confess it wasn’t. That didn’t deter Pantarotto from turning to the camera and telling his mom that the soccer legend wore her good luck charm—and it may have worked! Hopefully, the ribbon will give Messi and company good luck in their next match against France this weekend. > [](https://twitter.com/MascheranoStats/status/1012073979996180481) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5325083/lionel-messi-world-cup/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5325083/lionel-messi-world-cup/"},"headline":"Lionel Messi Totally Stunned a Reporter and It Wasn’t Even on The Soccer Field","datePublished":"2018-06-28T16:31:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:36.036Z","description":"Even the Argentinian soccer legend needs a good luck charm occasionally","url":"https://time.com/5325083/lionel-messi-world-cup/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Lionel Messi","Sports"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59db38ad2a64f0a8/6988dabafb4eac67d0893688/170825-athlete-splurges-lionel-messi2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59db38ad2a64f0a8/6988dabafb4eac67d0893688/170825-athlete-splurges-lionel-messi2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"170825-athlete-splurges-lionel-messi","caption":"Lionel Messi","creditText":"Manu Fernandez—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5325083/lionel-messi-world-cup/","name":"Lionel Messi Totally Stunned a Reporter and It Wasn’t Even on The Soccer Field"}}]}] ```