Hundreds of Argentina fans were filmed outside Lionel Messi’s grandmother’s house chanting “The grandma of Messi” after Argentina defeated Croatia 3-0 to book a place in Sunday’s final, a video shared by Fox Soccer showed.
Messi's grandmother Celia Olivera Cuccittini passed away in 1998 and she is the inspiration behind Messi's celebration where after he scores a goal, he points both index fingers to the heavens dedicating the goals to her.
“When I was 4, I started playing at a club. Back then the team was one year older than me were playing and they needed a player, so my grandma told the coach 'Put him in [Leo] into the team. The coach said I'm too small, but grandma always says, 'Play him, play him',” Messi had said in an interview.
Against Croatia, Messi converted a penalty and played a part in the other two goals by Julián Álvarez — one with an outrageous piece of skill that brought roars of approval from Argentina's huge following — to turn an initially tense occasion into a procession.
It will be Messi's second World Cup final — Argentina lost the other one to Germany in 2014 — in what might be his last appearance at the tournament.
He became Argentina's record scorer at World Cups with his third penalty of the tournament taking him to 11 goals in total — one more than Gabriel Batistuta. He also tied the record for most appearances at the World Cup by playing for the 25th time, the same number as Lothar Matthäus of Germany.