Lionel Messi broke down with tears of joy after Argentina survived a major World Cup scare to advance to the quarter-finals.
The reigning champions looked set to be dumped out at the last 16 stage when they were trailing Egypt 2-0 with 12 minutes left in the second half.
However, in one of the great comebacks in World Cup history, they scored three goals in 13 minutes to stun Egypt and set up a quarter-final showdown with either Switzerland or Colombia on Sunday, 2am (BST).
And as Argentina celebrated at the full-time whistle, Messi cried tears of joy and relief that his World Cup will continue into the weekend.
Messi was hugged by several of his team-mates – as an outpouring of emotion came out from the Argentina squad.
ITV pundits Roy Keane and Gary Neville were quick to react to the scenes unfolding from the Atlanta Stadium.
Lionel Messi cried tears of joy and relief after Argentina edged past Egypt in their last-16 clash
‘Those are tears of relief, he’s getting that emotional,’ remarked Neville.
‘They’ve [Argentina] got an indestructible spirit. They are so wedded to that badge, that shirt, playing for their country. He [Messi] knows how close they came, that’s why he’s crying like that.’
Keane concurred, saying: ‘My voice is gone. I loved it. Yesterday [Tuesday] we saw sad tears from [Cristiano] Ronaldo. Today we see happy tears from Messi.
‘They [Argentina] will not give up. The quality of their goals were amazing. Wow. This is why we love the game. Absolutely amazing.’
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