Lionel Messi appears to disregard the Manchester City youngster after Argentina’s victory over Australia, it’s painful to watch

Following Argentina’s friendly win over Australia on Thursday night, Lionel Messi completely ignored an opposing player.

The reigning World Cup champions secured a 2-0 victory at the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, China, with Messi predictably finding the back of the net.

At 35 years old, Messi opened the scoring within just one minute and 19 seconds, elegantly curling a shot into the top left corner from outside the box.

This goal marked the fastest of his career and set Argentina on the path to triumph. Substitute German Pezzella sealed the victory with a header in the middle of the second half.

As is customary in almost every match involving Messi, there was a scramble at the end of the game as players sought to acquire the jersey of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.

With his impending move to Inter Miami from Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City’s 20-year-old talent Alexander Robertson made an effort to claim Messi’s shirt but was coldly disregarded by the Argentine.

In a video that has been shared on social media, Manchester City academy prospect Robertson can be seen approaching Messi after the final whistle, lightly touching him on the back.

Despite the initial contact, Messi does not respond. However, Robertson persists and touches Messi again while seemingly saying something that catches the attention of the Argentina captain.

For a brief moment, Messi turns towards Robertson but then proceeds to ignore him, focusing instead on shaking hands with a member of Australia’s coaching staff.

Undeterred, Robertson makes a third attempt to acquire Messi’s shirt but is once again completely disregarded. The young player is left with no choice but to accept defeat in his pursuit.

Messi brushing Robertson who was clearly after his shirt lmaooo #ARGvAUS pic.twitter.com/JW438l3GQr

— Evan Morgan Grahame (@Evan_M_G) June 15, 2023

Messi has previously disclosed that he has only made a shirt request to one player after a match, and that player is the iconic French midfielder, Zinedine Zidane.

In an interview with TyC Sports in 2021, Messi openly admitted that during one of his early El Clasico matches in his Barcelona career, he couldn’t resist the temptation to acquire the shirt of the legendary Real Madrid player.