As expected, the "Boss" said, "The association's staff are owed back pay? I'll handle it." A single phone call resolved the issue... He also generously distributed World Cup bonus money to the staff, an amount equivalent to "the price of an apartment."

*This content was translated by AI.

It was recently revealed that Lionel Messi (39, Inter Miami) shared a massive World Cup bonus with the staff at the Argentine Football Association (AFA) training ground shortly after Argentina's victory in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Argentine media outlet 'Infobae' reported on the 20th (Korean time) that "Gerardo Salorio, who previously served as the physical coach for the Argentine national team, appeared on a local radio station and revealed an anecdote about Messi's distribution of World Cup bonus money."

According to Salorio, Messi divided the World Cup winning bonus equally among all training ground staff, including cleaning workers and Lisa the cook. Salorio explained, "The money the staff received was an enormous amount, enough to buy an apartment or nearly so."

Messi's good deeds did not stop there. When the staff complained that they had not received their salaries for three months during a chaotic period when the AFA was under government management, Messi immediately stepped in. Salorio stated, "After Messi made a few phone calls, the issue of back pay was resolved in just a few hours."

Meanwhile, Messi is preparing to participate in the 2026 North American World Cup, his sixth personal World Cup appearance. After the first half of the season schedule with his club team, Inter Miami, concludes, he will join the Argentine national team's base camp set up in Kansas City.

Before the World Cup finals, Argentina will play friendly matches against Honduras in Texas on the 6th of next month and against Iceland in Alabama on the 9th. Following that, they will face Algeria in the first Group J match of the World Cup group stage in Kansas City, USA, on the 16th, and will subsequently play against Austria on the 22nd and Jordan on the 27th.

Messi has currently participated in 1,154 professional matches, recording 910 goals and 413 assists. On the club level, he has been highly active at Barcelona (672 goals, 269 assists), Paris Saint-Germain (32 goals, 34 assists), and Inter Miami (90 goals, 49 assists). He has also scored 116 goals and provided 62 assists for the Argentina A national team.

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*This content was translated by AI.