DPA
Hundreds of thousands are lining the streets of Buenos Aires as Lionel Messi and his Argentina embarked on their World Cup victory parade.
The team left the headquarters of the nation’s football federation, presenting itself to the ecstatic fans from an open top bus in the parade to culminate at the famous obelisk on Plaza de la Republic in where millions already celebrated after Sunday’s final and large crowds were gathering again Tuesday. The team presented the World Cup trophy as the bus moved at a very slow speed.
Reports said that train stations and trains were overcrowded as Argentinians made their way to the parade, with mobile phone networks also reaching their limits.
Argentina President Alberto Fernandez had declared Tuesday a national holiday so that everyone in the country could celebrate their third World Cup title, won on Sunday in Qatar on penalties against France.
The team had returned home in the early hours of Tuesday.
Messi gets some rest with World Cup trophy
Argentina embarked on their big parade after a brief rest following their return from Qatar, with captain Lionel Messi sharing his bed with the trophy.
Saying “Good morning,” Messi posted three photos on Instagram, showing him sleeping and awake with the trophy, and sipping mate next to it.
The post received 27.5 million likes within a mere three hours, after Messi’s previous post after the title Sunday had become the most liked post ever on Instagram with now more than 61.5 million.
Argentina won their third world title on Sunday in Qatar, beating defending champions France 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 deadlock.
Messi scored in regulation and extra-time, and also in the shoot-out, as he won the biggest prize in football at last.
The team returned early Tuesday, with Messi holding the trophy in his hand as he disembarked the plane first just before 3am local time (0600 GMT) alongside coach Lionel Scaloni in Buenos Aires.
A red carpet was rolled out for the squad and rock band La Mosca played the tune Muchachos (lads) which their large number of fans had chanted throughout the tournament in Qatar.
Thousands of fans had defied the early hour to catch a glimpse of the players who were paraded in an open top bus on the short way to the nation’s football federation headquarters where they got some rest.
