World Cup 2022: Cameron Devlin explains how he came to swap jerseys with Lionel Messi
Collectors are tipped to offer a fortune for the jersey that Lionel Messi wore in his 1000th professional game – Socceroo Cam Devlin explains how he came to own it.
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He may receive seven-figure offers for it in future, but Socceroos youngster Cameron Devlin says there is no chance he’ll sell Lionel Messi’s jersey after getting it from the Argentinian superstar following Australia’s World Cup defeat.
Messi’s Barcelona jersey from the 2017 El Classico match when he scored two goals in extra-time to defeat Real Madrid recently sold for $658,000.
And sports memorabilia expert Michael Fahey noted that Argentina football legend Maradona’s jersey from the 1986 “Hand of God” match fetched a world record $US9.3 million and believes Messi’s World Cup jersey would immediately attract offers of “hundreds of thousands”.
Considering it was Messi’s 1000th professional game, and the jersey he scored his first World Cup knockout stage goal, the value is sure to increase monumentally over time.
Asked if he’d ever sell it, Devlin said: “I don’t think so, to be fair Messi’s 1000th game kit is super special.
“The jersey is going to be at my home. And my dad’s got it, I don’t think he’ll let me touch it anymore.”
Devlin returned to Sydney Airport on Monday night and explained he’d waited for one of his teammates to swap jerseys with the legend, but when none did, he swooped.
“I hadn’t played so I thought I’d just let the boys who’d done the hard work try – I know we lost and we were all battered but it’s not everyday you get to verse someone like that.
“I’d seen all the boys and no one was really asking for him, and we were all gutted to be fair. I went and consoled all the boys first, then shook Messi’s hand, and no one had said anything.
Class from Messi ðŸ‘
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) December 4, 2022
Keeping his promise to give @Socceroos midfielder @cammy_devlin his shirt after the game ðŸ¤#FIFAWorldCup@Argentinapic.twitter.com/sBjm9AHkKz
“So I tried my luck and he said ‘I’ll you inside’, and that’s what happened. There’s not much to it, I definitely wanted one of the other boys to have the opportunity first but no one took it, so I thought ‘Why not?’”
Devlin does not expect that Messi will have his Socceroos jersey on display in one of his mansions.
“I don’t know if it will be on his wall at home or still on the ground in that change room,” Devlin said.
“But I’m not fussed, it’s more that I got his. I was surprised he even took mine, he definitely wouldn’t know who I am but he’s a nice enough and humble enough bloke to still show that respect.”
Devlin made sure his father took special care of Messi’s jersey on the flight back from Qatar, which proved wise when the Socceroos had trouble finding some bags upon arrival at Sydney.
“I made sure dad had it on his carry-on, not underneath, just in case something happened, and said ‘Don’t put it above, make sure you’re hugging it all flight’,” Devlin said.
HERO’S WELCOME: SOCCEROOS BACK ARNOLD IN AUSSIE HOMECOMING
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has been resoundingly backed by his players to take Australia to the 2026 World Cup – if that indeed is his preferred option.
After leading the nation to its best ever World Cup performance, Arnold’s future is the subject of intense scrutiny, and while the coach is taking a holiday before making any decisions, returning Socceroos stars hope he’ll be given another four-year stint by Football Australia if he wants to stay on.
Socceroos players were given a heroes welcome at Sydney and Melbourne airports on Monday night, as news emerged that FA had not yet tabled a new deal for Arnold while at least two nations and two overseas clubs were ready to pounce on the off-contract coach.
Captain Mat Ryan, and his goalkeeping colleagues Danny Vukovic and Andrew Redmayne were glowing about Arnold’s effect on the squad, after they managed to reach the final 16, falling narrowly 2-1 to Argentina after defeating Tunisia and Denmark in the pool stages.
“We want to be having success at this level as often as we can, it’s important we take this momentum and run with it, that’s definitely the ambition of the group,” Ryan said.
“Now there’s a bit of uncertainty in the organisation around who is going to be leading us, we don’t know what’s happening there, it will be nice if Arnie continues given the momentum he’s built up now and what we’ve been doing.
“Results speak for themselves, he’s become the most successful Australian manager ever now with the results he’s got. He’s been riding a real wave of success and momentum since that window against Peru and UAE where we won those games, and the friendly against Jordan, and now we’ve done what we’ve done.
“We want to continue that run we’re on, the best way going about achieving that is to keep the stability there.
“Nothing too drastic is going to change if we keep the same manager.
“Arnie himself has to be wanting and willing to continue as well, I’m not sure what his circumstances and situation is like. For us, it would be great if we could continue to have him with us.
“I am always trying to encourage him to stay on as long as possible.”
Vukovic added: “Out of all of this, the person I am most happy for is Arnie. He’s had a lot of tough press over the last few years, and a lot of people calling for his name.
“He stuck to his guns and galvanised this side. We all know we don’t world star players, but what we do have is an unbelievable team, and that was created by him; that team Camaraderie, that togetherness, and that shone through at the World Cup.
“He is a big reason why we went as far as we did.
“He’s taken this group a long way, who is to say how far he can go, but I don’t know what he wants to do after all this. I know Arnie likes to be hands on, work with players a lot, and with the national team sometimes you’re not with your team for three, four months, and whether or not he can do that again remains to be seen.
“But wherever he goes, whether it’s with the national team or wherever it is, I have no doubt he’ll do well.”
Redmayne also backed Arnold.
“I’d like to see Arnie do whatever he wants to do, he deserves it, if he wants to stay on I’d welcome that with open heart, open mind and open arms,” Redmayne said.
“He’s phenomenal for Australian football, he lives and breathes it and he lives and dies by his own sword, he puts himself on the line as much as the players do on the field.”
Meanwhile, Ryan hopes his team’s efforts in Qatar will lift Australian football to a new era of success.
“We like to inspire the nation, and inspire the public to chase their dreams, I like to think we did that, no goal is too big to achieve,” Ryan said.
“By our performances, we’ve shown the world that Australians can play football to a very good level, on top of that, the characters that we are, putting the team first ticks all the boxes for what I feel a team would want from players in the group.
“Fingers crossed, that can result in a lot of boys getting moves to bigger clubs and bigger leagues and raising the level of the national team.”
As for his goalkeeping blunder against Argentina, allowing Julian Alvarez to score what proved to be the winning goal, Ryan said: “It’s always going to be a tough one given the moment of it, to shake that feeling of what could’ve been and my involvement of that is a tough pill to swallow.
“But life experience has taught me it’s how you respond afterwards. I was pretty happy with how I responded within the game, making a couple of saves later on to try to help the team get back into it with a goal to equalise but it wasn’t to be.
“I’ll be looking to make amends for that from here on out, and be better for it. It still hurts, but on to bigger and better things now.”
‘SKY IS THE LIMIT’ FOR SOCCEROOS HEROES
—Adam Daunt
The sky is the limit for the Socceroos after their World Cup exploits which united a nation.
Jamie Maclaren, Thomas Deng and Marco Tilio were given a hero’s welcome at Melbourne Airport after they returned home from the Qatar World Cup.
Fans packed the terminal to see the Socceroos trio despite Mathew Leckie being absent from the flight. The Socceroos’ goalscorer and Melbourne City attacker is expected to arrive back in Melbourne on Tuesday evening.
Fresh off making the knockout stages for the first time since 2006, squad member Marco Tilio believes anything is possible in the next World Cup cycle.
“I think the sky is the limit for anything, I think we’d love to go to the final of the World Cup one day,” he said.
“I think for us as a team, we can keep building from this experience and hopefully next World Cup we can go further.”
Australia’s run to the final was ended by Lionel Messi’s Argentina on Sunday but they still managed to secure two wins over Denmark and Tunisia.
Those performances saw packed scenes at Melbourne’s federation Square, AAMI Park and across the country.
McLaren hoped that their achievements would inspire the next wave of Socceroos’ fans.
“It’s a great feeling to know we had such an impact,” he said.
“It’s been the best finish that the Socceroos have had at a World Cup, now that is the standard for the younger generation coming through to drive and really uphold those standards.”
ARNIE’S PLEA FOR ‘HOMELESS’ SOCCEROOS
—Joe Barton
The next step for Australia to build on its World Cup fairytale, according to Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, is a simple one.
The veteran coach came off contract as the national team coach after Australia’s Round of 16 loss to Argentina, but there’s still few who are as passionate about the success of football in this country.
And so he used his final press conference to deliver a message to Australia’s state and federal governments, imploring them to build a world-class football facility to keep pace with rival Asian nations in the sporting arms race.
To paraphrase a line from the 1989 Kevin Costner movie Field Of Dreams, Arnold’s message is clear: if you build it, success will come.
“We need to spend money and get help from the government to put some money into the game, develop kids,” Arnold said.
“And one thing I’d love to see before I finish up completely from football is that the government build us a house – we’ve been homeless since I’ve been involved for 37 years.”
Having seen first-hand what the facilities can be like – after being based inside Qatar’s $1.3 billion football factory, the Aspire Academy in Doha, for the duration of the World Cup – Arnold knows what Australia’s rivals in the Asian Football Confederation are working with.
“(We need) a facility that can inspire, something like the AIS, something the government can fund for the national teams and for the good of Australian football,” Arnold said.
WORLD CUP LATEST: FOLLOW ALL THE NEWS AND RESULTS FROM QATAR
For one of the Socceroos’ breakout stars of the tournament, Adelaide United’s Craig Goodwin, this is an opportunity which cannot be missed for Australia to build on, starting from the bottom up.
“It comes from the group we have trying to keep the culture, but it also comes from the grassroots of Australian football,” Goodwin added.
“The more we can do and the better we can build to train and coach the young players to match it with the world, the better chance we have of doing even better at these tournaments.
“We have the Aussie DNA, the Aussie spirit, but if we can produce the same level on technical ability and tactical ability as some of the European and South American nations, we can hit that mark in those aspects.
“And then (with) that Aussie DNA we have a real chance to do something special. And we always believe in ourselves, but there is still work to be done.”
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