Lionel Messi gets emotional after his statue is placed alongside Pele, Maradona: 'I'm fullfilled'

It looks like Lionel Messi's FIFA World Cup celebrations are not going to end anytime soon. Messi has reacted to receiving a life-size statue of himself that will be placed alongside legendary players Pele and Diego Maradona in The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) museum.

The CONMEBOL honoured the Argentina national football team in a special ceremony on Monday, which included a song performed by La Sole for the team. Messi was presented with replicas of the World Cup and the Finalissima trophy, which La Albiceleste won after beating Italy.

Messi: 'We are living very beautiful moments'

"I'm fulfilled with this, it was what I was missing. Thank God I got everything in football," Messi said at the ceremony.

"I keep these cups in the museum at home. Thanks to CONMEBOL for this tribute to us and to Sole for the theme, we listen to it a lot and it reminds me of when she sang it to Diego. We are living very beautiful moments, we were lucky to return to Argentina after the World Cup and we received many expressions of affection. It was different, that's how the people of Argentina show it," Messi added.

Messi, who has scored 99 goals in 173 competitive matches for Argentina, went on to add that until he won the World Cup, he was not aware of what it meant to be world champions.

"In many parts of the world, they were happy for us. The last thing I want to say is that beyond the love that this group receives, I think we are still not aware of what it means. We think about what is coming and not what we did, this is for life," the Paris Saint-Germain star said.

Argentina rename facility after Messi

Earlier this week, Argentina renamed their training facility after Messi for his heroics during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The former FC Barcelona forward inspired Argentina's third World Cup win and also received the Golden Ball award. Argentina defeated France on penalties in the final of the Qatar World Cup last year, where Messi netted a brace and also scored from the spot during the shoot-out.

The Casa de Ezeiza in Buenos Aires will now be known as Lionel Andres Messi "in tribute to the best player in the world," AFA president Claudio Tapia tweeted.

Messi, who is now being showered with so much love and respect, earlier suffered from cold treatment from many of his own countrymen who solely blamed him for the country's failings in the previous tournaments. Messi's situation went so out of hand that he quit international football in 2016. Thankfully for Argentina, the man returned and has now won two major trophies for them, the Copa America and the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Messi emulated Maradona on the world stage, ending Argentina's 36-year wait for the World Cup. The Late Maradona captained Argentina to World Cup glory in the 1986 tournament in Mexico, where they defeated West Germany in the final.

Earlier this month it was reported that when Messi landed in Buenos Aires for Argentina's friendly fixtures in the international break, he and his family were mobbed at a local restaurant, Don Julio, in the Buenos Aires district of Palermo. When the news about Messi being at the restaurant spread, in very little time hundreds of fans arrived outside the place and began to chant "Messi, Messi." The people also sang the words to "Muchachos," which became the unofficial anthem for Argentina's World Cup-winning squad.

The situation became so intense that Messi could not leave the restaurant until 1:45 a.m as he needed the police to intervene and calm the public. As the police and security escorted Messi and his family to his vehicle, the mob tried touching the player or grabbing a selfie before the PSG star finally made it to his grey Porsche.