Copa America: Footballer Takes Selfie With Messi After Loss, Neymar 'Ban' From Tournament

Jaimacan footballer Deshorn Brown did not mind their team’s 1-0 loss to Argentina in Group B of Copa America as long as he gets a picture of himself with Aregentinian international and football sensation Lionel Messi.

As soon as Brown, who had been substituted near the end of Saturday’s match, heard the final whistle, he immediately took his phone from the bench and looked for Messi to take a selfie with the Barcelona star.

“I had thought about it before the match so that’s why I took [the phone] to the bench. As soon as [the match] finished … I took the picture,” Brown said to reports. He also reasoned out that Messi, who was making his 100th appearance for Argentina, is the best in the world and a photo with the football star was a souvenir he will have for all his life.

Messi was still surprised despite of being normally sought after by fans, celebrities and even fellow professionals.

“He surprised me. On top of that I was annoyed about how the match had gone despite our win … but when I saw the phone I realised what was going on. It’s really nice when a colleague asks me for that,” Messi said.

After getting the chance of his life and taking a selfie with the Barcelona star, Brown posted the photo on his Instagram account with a caption: ‘Not the result we were looking for, but I got to meet the best player in the world and it was a great feeling to play against him! Best of luck to [Lionel Messi] and Argentina in the rest of the tournament.’

Argentina have won Group B, but should have had more than Gonzalo Higuain’s early goal, hitting the bar twice before losing the initiative in the final quarter. The Argentinian team managed to defend their lead and avoid a replay of their match against Paraguay, who scored twice in the last 30 minutes of the second half to force a 2-2 draw. Messi said they need to play better in the knockout phase if they want to win Argentina’s first major title since the 1993 Copa America in Ecuador.

Meanwhile, Brazil will have to continue their 2015 Copa America campaign without football wizard Neymar after being banned for the rest of the tournament. The Brazilian footballer got a red card after their 1-0 loss against Colombia, when he appeared to head-butt opponent Jeison Murillo.

COMNEBOL’s disciplinary board dropped Neymar, one of the three Barcelona stars in the Copa America along with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, a four game suspension and fined him $10,000 after the board re-evaluated their punishment, which was initially a one game suspension after the incident. Brazil is in a four-way tie in Group C and will need to defeat a surprisingly tough Venezuela to advance in the knockout phase.