After Argentina’s 1-0 victory on the morning of June 10 (Hanoi time), Lionel Messi gave a special gift to Kendry Páez, young talent of the Ecuadorian national team.

Messi exchanged shirts with the 17-year-old player from the Ecuadorian team.

Immediately after finishing the match, the camera lens captured the moment in which the captain of “La Albiceleste” took off his shirt and handed it to Leo Páez and then also shook hands and hugged the young Ecuadorian midfielder.

Páez had an impressive performance against the Argentine team. “He handles the left, right and center of the field very well,” commented an account on X (Twitter). Another commented: “His future is really bright.”

Páez once caused fever in his homeland with Independiente del Valle. In the match against the current Copa América champion, this midfielder born in 2007 also wore the number 10 shirt.

The Chelsea website also announced that Páez will be a club player from the summer of 2025. The camera captured the image of this 17-year-old player shaking hands with Enzo Fernández, a midfielder on the Stamford Bridge team’s roster, after the match against Argentina.

With his name on the Copa América entry list for coach Félix Sánchez’s team, many fans are looking forward to Páez’s performance in the upcoming tournament.

As for Messi, fans judged that the Inter Miami forward had a mediocre performance in the match against Ecuador. However, Argentina won 1-0 thanks to Ángel Di María’s goal.

The Albiceleste will have one more friendly match with the Guatemalan team. After that, coach Lionel Scaloni’s team will begin the campaign to defend the championship at the Copa América 2024.