DailyExpertNews
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Lionel Messi sits on Sergio Agüero’s shoulders, both hands clasped tightly around the World Cup trophy as he holds it aloft.
A wide smile is etched on his face, his eyes shine; it’s a moment of pure, raw joy, the culmination of a lifelong dream after years of World Cup heartbreak, all captured in a split second.
It’s a photo Messi chose to upload to celebrate his World Cup victory over France – now the most liked post in Instagram history, overtaking an ordinary brown egg – and was taken by Getty photographer Shaun Botterill, who sat in the front row at one of the most iconic moments in sports history.
Botterill says during Sunday’s World Cup final, the photographers had made a plan for one of them to get on the field in front of the billboards near the main stand that trapped the vast majority of Argentine fans at the Lusail stadium.
After Messi spent some time with his family after the trophy presentation, the Argentina captain began to make his way towards the fans, prompting the photographers to rush to the goal on the far side of the pitch.
“I was almost stuck, but I just ended up in the right place,” Botterill tells DailyExpertNews. “I think most of us [photographers] To be honest, you always need a bit of luck and I had that on Sunday evening.
“Messi was just there and he didn’t move that much, sometimes you get pushed around, and he just did everything, with one hand, two hands on the trophy.
“We had no idea what would happen at the end. You can plan the trophy lift, but you can’t plan the running around and you don’t know how chaotic it will get. I was pretty close to him, I’m probably six feet away at the most.
“It’s kind of a weird feeling, it’s kind of surreal, you’re like, ‘Holy s**t,’ he’s right where you want him to be and that doesn’t happen very often.
‘Even his hands come up [with the trophy]I think the way he’s holding it and smiling, he’s definitely having a moment with the fans.
As Aguero, a former Argentina teammate of Messi who retired in December 2021 after developing a cardiac arrhythmia, carried his friend away to the other side of the stands, Botterill immediately grabbed a cable from one of the outside cameras behind the goal, connected into his camera and sent the photo to his editors.
Coincidentally, Botterill’s son worked in the editorial office that evening.
“My eldest texted me and said, ‘I edited your photo, Dad, it’s a beautiful photo,'” Botterill recalled.
His son’s feedback has turned out to be quite an understatement.
In the immediate aftermath, Botterill “knew it was a pretty good shot” – modesty obviously runs in the family – but there’s always the concern that another photographer will have taken a better shot from a slightly different angle, as “slim margins” can make a big difference.
The British photographer admits the crop Messi used on Instagram wasn’t his favorite version of the photo, with the wider image providing more context and better capturing the admiration the Argentina captain received.
Even after a career that started at the 1986 World Cup, Botterill says these moments still seem surreal.
“I remember thinking, ‘Damn, how the hell did I get to where I am now?'” says Botterill. “Because in those situations you are governed by where the masses are pushing you.
“When I look back, you can’t believe that man in front of you is standing on Sergio Aguero’s shoulders, holding up the World Cup and showing it to his fans.
“It has that impact, doesn’t it? It has the happy face, it has the joy, the trophy and it looks quite chaotic.
As someone who doesn’t have a social media account, Botterill says he was initially completely unaware that his photo had made history.
On Wednesday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that Messi’s Instagram post, with Botterill’s snap leading the way, had broken the record for the most likes in the app’s history. At the time of writing, it has over 69 million likes – and it’s still rising.
Posted in 2019, the egg photo that Messi’s post appropriated for good measure now has 57 million likes.
“That’s the funny thing for me because I’m not on Instagram, I wouldn’t even know how to crop an Instagram photo,” says Botterill.
“It’s hilarious to me, the fact that you have a 55-year-old dude who isn’t on Instagram and he has two guys who think it’s the funniest thing ever.
“The youngest said, ‘It’s 62 million, Dad.’ I’m from a small town in Northampton so it’s kind of bizarre.
“It’s kind of crazy because… I didn’t really have a clue what was going on,” adds Botterill. “It wasn’t until a colleague messaged me and said, ‘Oh, did you see how many likes [your photo has]?’
“So it’s somewhat ironic that all of a sudden I’m an old man who isn’t on social media who, obviously on the back of a great footballer, has put out a photo that has been picked up a bit. So it’s actually kind of funny – I got from the plane and didn’t know what was going on.
After 36 years in the industry, Botterill says he still feels the same passion and excitement as an 18-year-old just starting out trying to capture the sport’s iconic moments.
After covering his first World Cup in 1986 as an editor, Botterill took a career break and even turned down the chance to go to the 1990 World Cup because he was busy with scaffolding. He returned to photography to cover the 1994 World Cup and has been to every edition since.
Born near the English town of Northampton in 1967, Botterill got his first break at age 16 at the agency founded by famed sports photographer Bob Thomas, working in the darkroom.
Given his extensive portfolio and the number of major events he’s covered, Botterill has a hard time picking out a favorite shot of his.
He reveals that photographers are “kind of funny,” rarely dwelling on a photo for too long, and instead always looking out for the “next decent shot.”
However, when it all comes together, like on Sunday at Lusail Stadium, Botterill takes a moment to enjoy it.
“I think if you get a picture of a player or an athlete who is really on top, you know, they can argue if he’s the best ever; is it Pele? Is it Maradona?” he says.
“But the bottom line is that he [Messi] is up there, so when you get a really nice shot of a great player, it’s quite a nice feeling.
“He’s amazing, he’s fantastic, he’s incredible. So that gives you a rush to get a really good image.
“Everyone can decide what they think of the picture, but it’s a really nice picture of one of the best players ever, so that’s the best thing for me. This is why you have to work.”