Lionel Messi ‘may avoid any public appearance’ over Christmas after Argentina World Cup win

Lionel Messi ‘may avoid any more public appearances’ over Christmas as Argentina celebrate their World Cup win, with the star holed up in his Rosario home.

The victorious players returned home at the start of the week following Sunday’s dramatic win over France and were greeted by jubilant crowds in Buenos Aires.

Indeed, such was the boisterous nature of the celebrations, an open-top bus parade had to be abandoned after fans jumped onto it from bridges.

Lionel Messi and his wife arrived back at their home in Funes, near Rosario, after Argentina’s World Cup win to be greeted by hundreds of jubilant fans outside

Plans for a local celebration involving Messi in Rosario seem to have been quashed  

Messi and Angel Di Maria both returned to their homes near Rosario by helicopter with the Paris Saint-Germain star then mobbed by fans as he arrived back at his home by car.

But, according to Clarin, that could well the last the public see of Messi over the festive period with rumours of a local victory celebration in Rosario on Thursday played down.

The Mayor of the city had offered a central location as a venue for the celebration event for Messi, Di Maria and Angel Correa, who is also from Rosario.

Clarin said, however, that growing rumours it would happen were quickly scotched.

It comes after Messi boarded a helicopter to go back home after Argentina’s bus parade 

Four million fans had greeted Messi and his team-mates in Buenos Aires earlier on in the day

Messi was born in Rosario and it’s also the city where he began his football career 

Messi is expected to spend Christmas with family and friends at his house in Funes, about 15km west of Rosario, before returning to PSG duty.

The French league leaders return to action against Strasbourg on December 28 but it remains unclear whether Messi will be back in time.

Reports suggested he spent some of his time on Wednesday at home with Gabriel Heinze, the former Argentina and Manchester United defender who is now the manager of Newell’s Old Boys.

Argentina’s open-top bus parade had to be cut short as the government intervened over safety

Players were evacuated onto helicopters after it became clear their bus journey was halted

More than four million people turned out in Buenos Aires to celebrate their World Cup heroes

Messi tried to take in the millions of fans out celebrating by recording on his phone

Video footage showed Messi’s car being swamped by adoring fans as he returned home with wife Antonella Roccuzzo following the abandoned victory parade in the capital Buenos Aires.

Upon his arrival, Messi was greeted by hundreds of cheering fans chanting ‘Dale Campeon’ translating to ‘Let’s go champion’.

The jubilant fans had been pushed to two sides by security to clear space for his wife to drive the car through the middle and inside a building.

Argentina were given a hero’s welcome after returning home from Qatar as world champions

Argentina’s players celebrated on an open-top bus after landing at Buenos Aires airport

Messi and Argentina’s stars returned as heroes as they landed at Ezeiza International Airport