Copa America: Neymar hugs Messi after Argentina win; fans go gaga over sweet gesture

Brasilia - The official Twitter handle of Copa America shared the pictures and captioned the post as: “Respecto. Ney Leo

Brazil might have lost the Copa America final against Argentina, but striker Neymar’s gesture after the match has won over social media and he is being applauded for being a perfect friend even when he had to face a loss.

Angel Di Maris’s strike helped Argentina defeat Brazil 1-0 in the finals of Copa America on Sunday (local time). With this win, Lionel Messi recorded his first victory in a major international tournament.

After the match concluded, Neymar met Messi and the duo embraced each other. Messi and Neymar have been long-time friends as they shared the same dressing room while playing for Spanish club Barcelona.

The official Twitter handle of Copa America shared the pictures and captioned the post as: “Respecto. Ney Leo.”

Since the post was made on social media, it has now gone viral and many users have praised Neymar for being a perfect friend and realising what the win actually meant to Messi.

Angel Di Maria scored the lone goal in the massive final as Argentina registered a 1-0 win over Brazil. Maria’s netted a goal in the 22nd minute to ensure Messi ended his drought of an international crown Argentina with Copa America final win.

Messi was seven years old when Argentina last lifted the coveted Copa America trophy. Maria’s strike in the tournament’s final gave Messi or his fans the much-needed relief.

Whenever the debate erupted between Messi or any other big player, football pundits always highlighted how the Argentina captain was not able to reap rewards at the big stage. Messi had won everything at the club level, both in personal and team capacity, but missed a major title with Argentina apart from a 2008 gold medal in the Olympics.

For now and at least sometimes the there will not be people questioning Messi’s legacy as he has finally won his first trophy with the senior national team.

The ‘icon’ Messi would only want Argentina to take the carry forward the momentum to the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

Messi had a hand in nine of the 12 goals Argentina scored during the tournament and was also named the Best Player of the Tournament along with Brazil’s Neymar who had scored two goals and registered three assists himself.

With this Copa victory, Argentina secured their 15th continental title, drawing them level with Uruguay as the holders of the most wins. La Albiceleste is joint top with their la Plata neighbours Uruguay while Brazil is in third with 9 wins.