The Argentine team which arrived in Beijing on June 10th for an invitational friendly match with Australia national team has been the center of attraction. The FIFA World Cup champions impressed their fans at the Workers’ Sports in Beijing on Thursday the 15th of June. Argentina won 2 nil against Australia. Messi hit the net within a record of 81 seconds to the busting cheers from his legion of fans. His every move in the game was followed by cheers. Argentina’s number 10 jersey filled the Beijing Worker’s Stadium.
After the game, Messi posted on his personal social media account thanking all Chinese fans for their enthusiastic support.

Interestingly, in the 66th minute of the game that night, there was an unexpected scene on the field. A fan wearing a Messi jersey jumped into the field and high-fived the Argentine players. The winner for him was hugging Messi to the cheers from the crowd. After being chased around by the security officers, he was caught. They had to lift him out of the field. The young fan explained that he had acquired an expensive ticket just to see Messi and so he had to take the risk of jumping into the field when he saw an opportunity. During interview he said his goal was achieved.

Recently, Messi said in an interview that there is a passage that he wants to give to Chinese children who love football: “In addition to the quality of the game, the most important thing is to play football itself. Enjoy the sport of football and enjoy the good time of playing football. You’ll make a lot of friends.”
Fans have been gathering at the Four Seasons Hotel since the arrival of team. On June 11, according to Beijing time reports, the Argentine team was supposed to conduct its first pre-match training at the Olympic Sports Center at 18:00, however, they had to delay. Lionel Messi who has been a hot topic on social media since arriving on the 10th, was reportedly made to stay in hotel temporarily. Messi and the Argentine team later boarded the bus that was to take them for training. Although it was a little later than the original time, they finally went to the training ground. Some fans also sent out photos of the scene.
The Four Seasons Hotel where the team was staying has been on spotlight with fans gathering every late afternoon for the departure of the team for training and late evenings for their return.