Salt Bae asked for a picture with Lionel Messi after Argentina’s World Cup win (Instagram)
Salt Bae insists he will never step foot on a World Cup pitch again following his infamous celebrations with Argentina’s players after their win in the final in Qatar.
Argentina beat France on penalties in December to win their first World Cup since 1986.
Argentina’s players, coaching staff and family members of the squad were all on the pitch to celebrate the World Cup victory Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gokce, was bizarrely among those posing with the trophy.
Lionel Messi and Lisandro Martinez both appeared visibly annoyed by Salt Bae’s presence during their team’s celebrations as the Turkish restaurateur was seen grabbing the trophy and posing for photos with several players.
But Salt Bae is adamant that he ‘didn’t like the attention’ and believes he was unfairly targeted for criticism.
‘I love Argentina; I’ve lived there. I went to support them,’ Gokce said in an interview with The Times.
Argentina’s players looked annoyed by Salt Bae’s intrusion on the pitch (Instagram)
Salt Bae was also slammed for touching the World Cup trophy (Instagram)
‘Many of [the team] have come to the restaurant. I didn’t feel a stranger. It was a special moment. I can’t do anything about the reason I was there, but I would never, ever step on the World Cup pitch again.
‘There were two billion people watching the World Cup. How many people are speaking about me? Five billion. The whole world.
Salt Bae even put a World Cup winners’ medal in his mouth (Instagram)
‘I didn’t go on the pitch with the purpose of advertising; I just felt like it. Then it was a bit of a surprise. There were at least another 1,000 people on the pitch but when they show the video they make out it was just me.
‘I never, ever wanted to overshadow anything. I didn’t like the attention. I didn’t kick anyone, steal anything.’
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