Lionel Messi Gave His World Cup Lucky Charm To Philippe Coutinho

Lionel Messi has proven himself to be a true leader for Barcelona after passing on his lucky charm to Philippe Coutinho.

Journalist Rama Pantarotto presented the 31-year-old forward with his mother's red ribbon, following on from Messi missing a penalty in Argentina's 1-1 draw with Iceland in the World Cup last summer.

The Barcelona captain wore the lucky charm in the Nigeria match, in which he opened the scoring for Argentina. In fact, he even surprised Pantarotto after the match by showing him that he was wearing the ribbon.

Now, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has passed on the charm to Coutinho, who has been under pressure at the Spanish club and has been linked with a move to Manchester United.

The Argentina captain has continued to support the former Liverpool ace, giving him the opportunity to take a penalty against Sevilla in the second leg of the Copa del Rey.

Messi revealed after the match why Coutinho stepped up and took the penalty.

"He took one against Levante and he wanted to take it," he said (via Marca).

"We spoke about it, he took it and I'm happy because that's where everything started."

The 26-year-old Brazil international has also thanked the Argentine ace for letting him take the penalty.

"The penalty has come naturally," he told Barça TV. "Leo's gesture shows how great it is.

"Thanks to Leo, for letting me kick the penalty, that's good for the confidence of the group.

"We knew that to overcome, we had to be involved from the beginning."

Ernesto Valverde's men overturned a 2-0 deficit in the first leg to thrash Sevilla 6-1 and progress to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.

Messi added his name to the scoresheet in style after Barcelona produced a mesmerising bit of tiki-taka play.

Will Barça win the Copa del Rey?

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Featured Image Credit: Mootaz Chehade

Topics: Football News, Football, Barcelona, Philippe Coutinho, Lionel Messi, World Cup, Copa del Rey, Sevilla, Iceland

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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