The English girlfriend of one of Argentina’s World Cup stars has revealed the gifts that Lionel Messi gave to the entire squad after the tournament.
Kelci-Rose Bowers, 22, posted consistent updates on social media throughout the World Cup as she followed her boyfriend Marcos Senesi around.
Senesi and Bowers met while they were both playing for Bournemouth, though the former has since joined Tottenham on a free transfer.
And now Bowers has shared a video showing the personalised backpack, golden Stanley water bottle, and mate set that Messi gave her beau after their 1-0 defeat in the final by Spain.
Senesi’s new bag has his name on it and has space for the ingredients and cup used to drink mate, a traditional South American caffeinated herbal drink.
It remains to be seen how long Messi has left with his Argentina team-mates. The legendary forward is now 39 and weighing up his international future.
Marcos Senesi’s footballer girlfriend, Kelci-Rose Bowers, has showed off the gifts Lionel Messi got the Argentina squad after the World Cup
Bowers, who met Senesi while they were both at Bournemouth, followed him to the World Cup
Choosing to support Argentina over England proved to be a controversial decision
His team-mate Leandro Paredes indicated that the World Cup final may have been Messi’s last game as he said: ‘I think he had already decided that this would be his last game with the national team.’
Paredes himself – who clashed with Eric Garcia and Gavi after the final whistle – may step away from the international game, while Nicolas Otamendi already has in the wake of their lacklustre final performance.
Writing on Instagram after the loss, Messi said: ‘The pain is immense, and this wound will take time to heal.
‘But I also hold onto all the good things… the matches we turned around by giving it our all – moments that will remain in our memories forever – and the support of an entire country which, combined with this group’s hard work and effort, brought us back among the world’s elite once again.
‘It is hard to fully appreciate our achievement right now, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and message. Once again, we managed to unite as a country and stand together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine.
‘I also want to congratulate Spain on winning the championship.’
Messi is a gift who keeps on giving with regards to the global game. He actually first retired from Argentina duty in 2016 but soon returned, and it was definitely worth doing that; he’s since won the 2022 World Cup and two Copa Americas.
His kind gesture towards his team-mates was certainly appreciated and Bowers, Senesi’s girlfriend, has already racked up 300,000 views on her video about the gesture.
|Bowers filmed Senesi reacting to being handed a late call-up to Argentina’s World Cup squad
Senesi, who has been on holiday in Ibiza, celebrated with his English footballer girlfriend
The duo had to cut short their holiday in Dubai when Senesi was handed a last-gasp call-up to Argentina’s squad – and of course that made a social media hit as well.
An injury to Marseille defender Leonardo Balerdi freed up space in the squad and Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni decided that Senesi was the man to replace him.
Bowers shared a video of Senesi receiving news of his call-up, as she explained they had been about to go to dinner when he received a phone call from the Argentinean national team.
‘We just came back from Miami, where we had been on holiday, and came to Ibiza just to enjoy a bit and relax,’ Bowers explained while Senesi was on the phone.
‘But this whole time neither of us have switched off, we were both aware of the situation of a centre back getting injured.
‘We have both the whole time not been able to fully enjoy, you know what I mean.
‘And now Marcos has just been called up. He has been called up for the World Cup, are you joking.
‘This is literally what both of us have been praying for, every day he has just been thinking about this.’
After Senesi put the phone down, both he and Bowers hugged and screamed in celebration.
The call-up was a reward for Senesi’s fine season at Bournemouth, where he helped the Cherries to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League to secure Europa League qualification.
The defender, who had also been eligible to represent Italy, had made just three appearances for Argentina to date in his career.
He went on to make two outings at the World Cup, including as a late substitute in the final.
