Lisandro Martinez has paid tribute to Lionel Messi for inspiring their Argentina side to World Cup glory.
The international team-mates helped the nation become world champions for the third time and the first in 36 years after defeating France in a thrilling final in Qatar via a penalty shootout earlier in December.
While the Manchester United defender was in and out of the team throughout the tournament, Messi played a key role as the team's captain and talisman including scoring seven goals.
Now Martinez has taken to Instagram to praise the leadership shown by the Paris Saint-Germain forward who he also called the greatest footballer of all time.
'On the pitch and off it an example for everyone. Thank you Leo for being our leader towards this great dream that we achieved. Simply the best footballer in history!!'
Tributes and praise have poured in for Messi who was also named the best player at the World Cup.
It's led to Barcelona admitting they would still 'love' for the forward to return to the Nou Camp, with the 35-year-old having left over a year ago after the Spanish side were unable to offer him a new deal due to financial constraints.
'On the subject of Messi, we can’t generate expectations,' Laporta told Barca TV. 'Messi is a PSG player and has a contract with them.
'He has won the World Cup and the Cules have been very happy. What I don’t want to do is generate expectations that at the moment are very difficult.
'For us he is the best player of all time, we have had him here and I am convinced that in his heart he is a Culé and will always be linked to Barca.
'Whether or not he comes back as a player, at the moment he is at PSG and we would very much love him to come back one day, but we’ll see.'
Meanwhile, Martinez's tribute comes a day after he continues to celebrate the World Cup triumph after posting a picture of himself alongside Tottenham defender Cristian Romero and Nahuel Molina - with the trio looking fatigued following their long celebrations.
It is unlikely Martinez will be unable to feature for United when they host Nottingham Forest in their return to Premier League action on Tuesday.