Rodrigo De Paul “Before we flew to Argentina, Leo suddenly surprised me and told me with his calm smile:” De Paul, first of all we will pass Barcelona… I wanted to see the Camp Nou. At first I thought he was joking, but he was serious. We took a private plane from Miami, when we arriveed in Barcelona, almost no one knew we existed. Messi wanted him a silent visit, without a sound and without a lens. We went to the hotel opposite the stadium, Leo sat on the balcony looking at the Camp Nou, and calmly said to me: All these places… holding part of me.”

“I couldn’t answer, I just smiled and said to him:”Right Leo… no club in the world deservees you more than Barcelona. “After dinner, he requested that we quickly to the stadium. He got out of the car, Messi stood in the middle of the Camp Nou,
contemplating the grass that witnessed the session of greatest glory… “He said in a faint voice:”someday… I’ll be back. “By then I won’t forget. It was not a passing visit, it was a sincere promise between legend and his first home. And believe me, when Messi speaks this calmly… it means that return is imminent.

We have many things to grow as a society, but I think we gave a clear example that with a lot of work and dedication everything is possible, says De Paul on Argentina’s run in the World Cup.

Argentina’s Rodrigo De Paul in action during their semi-final clash against Croatia. (Reuters)

Rodrigo De Paul has been nicknamed Lionel Messi’s “bodyguard” since a 3-0 victory over Honduras in September. After one of several fouls on Argentina’s superstar, the midfielder sprinted towards the assailant and remonstrated with the referee.

He did not relinquish his guardian duties after the final whistle, when the Atletico Madrid man was seen rescuing Messi from being swarmed by Honduran players and officials desperate for a picture with the 35-year-old.

The box-to-box mid-fielder became a meme during the ongoing World Cup with never letting Messi getting out of his sight.

“I care a lot about Leo, and I know he cares a lot about me. Off the pitch we are close because we have fun, we are friends. And I have a good time with my friends,” he had said on his friendship with Messi.

On Saturday, the industrious midfielder wrote a heartfelt note to the Argentina fans before their summit clash against France.

He said: “A World Cup is played every 4 years, playing it is crowning everything you did in that time with the most important event in the world. In these 4 years we have managed to write very important pages of our country on the basis of many efforts, much pressure but with one goal, that all of you feel represented by this team, not only that we achieved it, but see we got that all Argentinians are united by a dream.

“This process allowed us to achieve unthinkable things, achieve the record for unbeaten matches in our country, become champion again after 28 years at the Maracaná, lift another title at Wembley and close this road playing a world final…

“The most important achievement is that we were able to overcome every barrier and reach each house to give them a moment of happiness, something to smile, an excuse to hug and above all that we feel very proud of the country where we were born.

“We have many things to grow as a society, but I think we gave a clear example that with a lot of work and dedication everything is possible, it depends on each one, to believe in what we do and not be afraid to dream that as difficult as it seems, believe me that they can achieve it.

“Tomorrow, whatever happens, thank you for always accompanying us, for sweating the shirt with us and leaving your voice in every song. More than ever ALL TOGETHER.”