The problem of pitch invaders is something the world of sport is trying to fight, be it cricket or football or any field event, 'die hard' fans of a player will break all barriers to be near their favourite star.
A similar situation took place during Argentina's World Cup 2022 qualifying match vs Ecuador at the Estadio Monumental Banco Pichincha. A pitch invader, who ran on the field forcibly grabbed Argentina captain Lionel Messi by the neck in order to take a selfie with the football great.
While the fan was wearing an Ecuador jersey, he did manage to get hold of an angry Messi through his camera lens. The man was soon taken off the ground by the security personnel.
Not just that, the fan, who went by the Instagram handle 'jossuegarzon' shared the whole incident with his picture as well as a brief video with the "best player of all time".
He wrote, "You only live once and once is enough for me because I met the greatest player of all time. Mi querido @leomessi, thank you for all the happy moments you have given me throughout the years with your beautiful football. I love you and this game. #Messi."
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A similar incident had taken place with Mohamed Salah in Egypt's match vs Senegal recently, which had threatened the security of the player involved.
As for the clash, it was Argentina's last qualifying match for the World Cup 2022 that ended in a 1-1 draw. The Messi-led side along with Brazil, Uruguay and Ecuador had booked a place in the World Cup 2022 finals while Peru made it to the play-offs from South America.
Argentina was second in the South American qualifying points table with 11 wins and six draws from 17 games. As for Brazil, they ended as the table-toppers with 14 wins and 3 draws.
Uruguay took the third spot with eight wins from 18 games, as they endured six losses while Ecuador also qualified with 7 wins, six losses and five draws from 18 matches.
