As if beating Argentina twice in the final is not enough, the second featuring a missed Messi penalty which led to his side losing and his retirement – the Chilean fan who got possession of that ball now plans to auction it off.
The fan claims he’s doing it for safety reasons, since people know he has the ball, so he plans to sell if the value of the ball keeps rising.
Messi, remember, missed the first kick in the shootout between his country and Chile at the Copa America Centenario final, skying his shot horribly over the bar and into the crowd, where Pedro Vazquez got his hands on the ball.
Argentina went on to lose, and unable to cope with their third major tournament defeat in three years, Messi hang up his boots at the ripe old age of 29.
Vasquez plans to auction the ball off because he doesn’t want to become the target of thieves wanting to get their hands on it.
“The truth is that if the ball becomes any more valuable, it would be a risk to have it in my house,” he told reporters.
“I could sell it, but it would depend on the circumstances. It is nice to have the ball, but if it keeps rising in price, I’ll sell.”
If the auction goes ahead, Vasquez could get as much as $30,000 for the ball.