The touching reason why Lionel Messi points to the sky when he scores

Lionel Messi made history in 2022 by winning his first World Cup with Argentina. The Inter Miami star player scored several times during the tournament and added more goals to his already impressive tally.

Messi often points to the sky after scoring, but why?

This has to do with his grandmother, as The Sun reported.

According to the British newspaper, Messi is pointing to the sky after scoring in memory of his grandmother, Celia Olivera Cuccittini, who passed away in 1998.

"I am doing this because I dedicate my goals to my grandmother," Messi is quoted by The Sun.

"She took to me to football, but now she can’t see how far I have come. Nevertheless, she continues to help me and my family," he added.

Messi's grandmother was important to him because she was the one who helped him start his football career.

Speaking to Argentine newspaper Diario Olé, Messi explained how his grandmother was responsible for him playing for his neighbourhood club.

"The ‘86 team was playing, who are a year older than me, and they needed a player, so my grandmother told the coach 'put him in the team'," Messi said.

"No, how am I going to put him in the team, look how small he is, you're crazy, he's going to get hurt," the coach was reluctant.

But Messi's grandma kept insisting: "Put him, put him."

A young Messi then stole the show and showed his sheer class.

"'Apparently, when I went in, I did a couple of things and from then on, my grandmother came back and told him 'buy him soccer boots, I'll take him to training next week' and that's when I started,'' Messi explained.

And the rest is history ...