It's pretty good to be Lionel Messi. You play for one of the best teams in the world; it's very possible you're the best soccer player of all time; you've got a cool dog you play keep-away with sometimes who is practically as big as you are. All in all, you're doing pretty well.
On top of that, though, you've got the clear respect and admiration of your Argentina teammates -- as evidenced by when members of the national team woke Messi up with a song and some presents on the morning of his 34th birthday.
Messi's Argentina teammates woke him up to sing Happy Birthday and give him presents 🎁
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 24, 2021
Family 💙 pic.twitter.com/BQtCxjY3Ff
OK, maybe getting woken up early isn't the coolest thing in the world, but Messi seems pretty happy about it all.
Among the gifts was a half-empty bottle of perfume and a gallon of water. The water, given as a joke, is likely a reference to a 1990 "incident" when then-Argentina national team coach Carlos Bilardo gave a Brazilian player water from a similar container during a World Cup match. The Brazilian player started feeling ill after drinking the water and had to leave the game. That birthed the legend of "Bilardo's Holy Water."
Messi and Argentina could face Brazil in the Copa America final as both countries currently sit atop their group standings.