'Messi Laughed When I Reminded Him About Olympic Final' - Ezenwa Opens Up On Jersey Incident

Heartland goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa has claimed that he did not beg Lionel Messi for his jersey following Nigeria's 2-1 loss to Argentina at the 2018 World Cup.

Several Super Eagles fans criticized  Ezenwa, who was backup goalie to Francis Uzoho in Russia, after he was caught on camera swapping jerseys with the Argentina number 10.

While majority of the Nigerian players were upset over the painful loss to the South Americans and were not interested in getting Messi's shirt, Ezenwa was patiently waiting for the Barcelona captain in the tunnel.

Ezenwa was in the 2008 Olympics squad that narrowly lost to a Messi-inspired Argentina in the Men's football final and claims he reminded the Ballon d'Or record holder of their first meeting in Beijing.

Setting the record straight, Ezenwa told the Super Eagles Media Team on Instagram Live : "There's what you call spirit of sportsmanship. Messi is a wonderful player, we all know that. More than a decade ago, 2008 in Beijing Olympics, they beat us in the finals 1-0 with Messi, Aguero, Riquelme.

"Coming to meet Messi in 2018, it's a thing of joy so when I met him after the game between Nigeria and Argentina, I reminded him this is the person you met in 2008 though I was on the bench.

"Seeing him there again you have the right to go and meet him, he's a superstar, he's someone that the whole world recognizes, world's best player.

"He was going to the tunnel, I was already going out then I turned back and I saw him and the same thing I did in Beijing Olympics finals, I went to him and reminded him about the Olympic finals in China, he laughed.

"I asked him if we can have a change of jersey and he said no problem, Messi does not pull his jersey."

Ezenwa went on to reveal that he wasn't bothered that the video went viral for all the wrong reasons as he didn't do anything wrong.

"There was cold in that game so I was holding my jersey and wearing my tracksuit. When I showed him my jersey with happiness he pulled his jersey and gave it to me.

"He was about going for a press conference and one of the officials brought a tracksuit for him. For me to hear people saying Ezenwa went to beg Messi for jersey - if for any reason I've not seen Messi before and I was opportune to meet a player of his caliber, you ask him for jersey, I don't see anything wrong.

"I laughed over it seeing it trending online. The jersey is in my museum, I have never washed it."

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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