The true story of the world “trout” lifted by Lionel Messi in the most iconic photo of Qatar 2022

Lionel Messi celebrated the world title of Argentina national team almost two weeks ago at Lusail Stadium. The image of him, on a litter and with the cup in his hands, was the cover of all the newspapers and toured the whole world. But the trophy that Flea lifted that night was not that of FIFA. That cup is a replica that has holders, it is in La Plata and entered the field by chance.

Sounds crazy, but it’s not. It’s not one of those many absurd theories circulating on the internet. This is meThe true story of the “trout” cup. which the Argentine captain raised in the most iconic photo of Qatar 2022 and which is currently the image with the most likes in the Instagram story (74 million).

Ferdinand of the Orderphotographer and special correspondent of clarion Y Ole in Qatar posted two days after the excruciating final against France a catch of Let’s say Maria and Messi on their social networks to remember the Albiceleste triumph. The people of Rosario kissed the trophy and smiled. “Did you hear what was said there?“, asked a curious user.

The photographer, the “trout cup” and an unexpected message

Fernando replied concretely to his colleague: “Di María told Leo that he had done the (mini) tour with a glass of trout, he had the real one, that’s why they laughed”. Everything was left as if it were a joke. Another message among hundreds of comments and congratulations.

But eight thousand meters above sea level, from a plane bound for Barcelona from Doha, a woman writes: “Fernando, I just read a comment. We own the trout cup and pass it on to the players on the pitch. Very funny. Thank you”.

After 38 consecutive days of working halfway around the world, eating poorly and sleeping little, Fernando didn’t pay much attention to that message. Why should Lionel Messi raise a “trout” glass? Does it have something to do with that photo that circulated on the networks where two trophies were shown at the same time? Would FIFA allow so much chaos with the official trophy? The questions were piling up.

Fernando had this woman’s contact because her daughter was the star of the Argentine flags and he had agreed to send her photos of the girl, very photogenic among other things. However, when he started connecting the dots, he realized it might be true. I had to investigate.

Paula and Manuel, the owners of a unique object

On New Year’s Eve and already installed in his home in Buenos Aires, Paola Zuzulich (41) and Manuel Zarò (42) welcome a team of clarion to explain how they entered the stadium with such a similar replica of the cup prepared by FIFA for the celebrations and why it ended up on the pitch in the hands of the players.

“The day of the final came and we took the cup to the stadium, keeping it in our backpack so it couldn’t be seen,” explains Manuel. And he continues: “After the last penalty we took out the cup and started celebrating. At one point a relative of Paredes passed by and we yelled at him that we wanted him to sign the Leandro cup for us”.

This relative, whom they still could not identify, entered the field with the trophy: “Thus began the cup madness. She has entered the playing field, the players have grabbed her and Leo ends up going around with the cup“.

-How many times has the cup entered the playing field?

-The cup has entered the field, in total, three times. The first time, when Paredes’ relative takes her away, the relatives take pictures, he goes from side to side and Leandro signs. The second time he comes back, I don’t remember with whom, the cup is there longer. They ask us to take more pictures between players and family. And the third time a relative of Guido Rodríguez arrives, there were few people left. And again pictures were taken.

-When did you understand that this cup is the one Messi lifted at the celebrations?

-After the match ended we started seeing photos and what path our cup had taken. We still didn’t know that’s what Leo raised. Little by little we searched, with friends who also sent us photos, until we started to see the details of the underside, which has definite marks, and we started to find out.

-Then you are sure that your cup is the one in Messi’s Instagram photo…

– Yes. We are sure of it and it is confirmed that this is the cup with which Messi has made the rounds and it is the most popular in the world.

-Who signed it?

-We signed Leandro Paredes, Lautaro Martínez, Guido Rodríguez, Nico González and Angelito Di María.

-How did you manage to enter the stadium with the cup taking into account the security procedures?

-The truth was very difficult to enter the stadium. We scan it and when the cop turns around I say to my friend ‘get a drink’. There we took advantage of it, they put it in a bag and entered the stadium.

-What features does the trophy have?

-It’s not just another replica. Through social networks we contacted people who are dedicated to making eyewear and it took six months to make it happen. This mug has the weight of the original, is made with resin and quartz inside and bathed in a gold-like varnish.

Paula and Manuel say they planned this trip more than two years in advance and, in fact, they asked for this cup a long time ago: “We ordered it several months ago and we brought it from here”, they say.

His idea was “that the players can sign it, nothing more”. Once the trophy entered the field of play and was passed from hand to hand, they thought they would never see it again.

“We thought we would never get it back. The cup had been in the hands of one player to another for about 45 minutes, from one family member to another. They took pictures, it was all very nice, but we wanted it to return. Fortunately, it is back in the hands of Lautaro Martínez” says Manuel.

When Lautaro Martínez realized that Paula and Manuel owned the cup, he approached, along with Paredes’ relative, signed it and returned it to the owners. That moment will forever be imprinted on their retinas.

Then a small episode occurred that created confusion: the FIFA representatives approached the people of La Plata, who never moved from the stands, because they believed that the cup in their possession was the official FIFA replica with which they should have celebrated and which now rests in the AFA. The inspectors realized it was all a mistake and left them alone.

Go to Rosario and meet Di María

Paula and Manuel went to Rosario, to Di María’s mother’s house to collect some autographed jerseys from the world champion. However, they had the luxury of meeting each other little angel, who met with the celebration cup. A sequence that makes this story even more impressive.

“We had contacted Cuti Romero and knew that Di María’s relatives were in the same hotel. We found them in a corridor and asked Ángel to sign some T-shirts for us. One of the nuns took our T-shirts to have them signed, an idol, and we told her we would look for her in Rosario. And we managed to get Ángel to receive us and take pictures with the glass“says the couple.

-How did you contact Clarín to tell this story?

-We have two children, Salvador and Victoria. Victoria has always been wearing makeup and cheering and the truth is, she has had a lot of photos taken of her. They passed us photos from all sides. She was the link with Fernando because she had agreed to send me the photos where she appeared. There was contact.

-Did you think at one point during the celebrations that they weren’t going to get it back?

-When the cup goes, start from one hand to the other. I saw the players with our cup, relatives, all taking pictures. Minutes went by and I thought the glass would never come back. Those who were next to me said ‘that’s it, you lost it’. Inside me I thought I would never get it back. I thought about how I go from outside the stadium to explain to them that the cup was ours. It would have been very difficult.

Did they take you to every game?

-No. We had tickets for all matches. We all saw from Argentina. But we didn’t bring the cup to any game, it was only thought of and planned for the celebrations of the world final.

-After learning that this is the cup that Lionel Messi raised in Lusail, did anyone want to buy them?

-When we were there we offered everyone the glass so they could take pictures. We left the stadium last. And one of the guys asked me for my contact number and two days later he ended up offering me money for the drink because he wanted to buy it. We told him no, thank you very much, the cup was on its way to La Plata.

-Did you receive an unexpected phone call from a relative or acquaintance you haven’t spoken to for a long time?

​-Many people saw us on TV. They sent us the photos that appear with the cup, of Victoria, of Salvador. Everyone is invited to take a picture with the cup that Messi was holding.

-Where will the cup be?

– Now the cup will stay here at home. We don’t have a place in mind. We want to make a showcase with all the souvenirs we brought from Qatar, the tickets, the key rings, the merchandising they gave us, which they gave to the children. We hope to be able to allocate a place to present the cup.