A child gets Scaloni to sign a contract to stay with Argentina until the 2030 World Cup

The story quickly went viral on social media

Franco Ottaviani is a 9-year-old boy from Carcarañá, in the province of Santa Fe, who has become famous in Argentina. The boy decided to take action after hearing the rumors about the possible departure of Lionel Scaloni from the Argentina national team, and what he did has moved everyone, including the coach from Pujato himself.

The boy traveled with his family to the Argentine coach's hometown to look for Scaloni and deliver a very special message. On a piece of paper, he wrote a fictitious contract so that the national team coach would automatically renew and remain with the Albiceleste until 2030 in search of the fourth star that could not be achieved against Spain.

"For me, the national team is everything and I don't want Scaloni to leave. I play soccer too, and one day I want to make it to the national team," little Franco said, with the innocence of a child, in statements to TN.

“When Scaloni became champion in 2022, we approached him as a family to greet him. That was when Franco had his first contact and took a photo,” recalled César, the boy’s father, who also told how the Ottaviani family’s trip went after the defeat in the World Cup final.

“We went on Thursday afternoon, we arrived at 4:30 p.m. and at 5:15 Lionel came out to greet everyone. He spent almost two hours signing for everyone. More and more people kept arriving. He tried to come out two or three times a day, but there were always huge numbers of people on the sidewalk,” he said.

"He wanted to tell Scaloni to stay with the National Team: he appreciates him a lot and he is his idol for what he has been experiencing for years,” the father said, the mastermind behind the contract drawn up by the boy for Scaloni to sign.

Scaloni's reaction and the message to the AFA

The Argentine coach appreciated the boy's gesture and did not hesitate to sign his continuation. “When we arrived in Pujato and Scaloni came over to us, he signed the shirt and Franco handed him the paper. I said to him, ‘Lio, did you notice what you’re signing’?, and he paid attention to it and started laughing. He told him ‘you’re unbelievable’ and signed the paper“, he said.

“[We] got home and Franco says to me, ‘I already have the contract, what do we do so that the National Team finds out?’ and that’s when we made the video telling Chiqui Tapia to do his part so that he renews it", his father said.

“ We didn't think it was going to go so viral. For me it is a source of pride and for Franco it was a beautiful experience at his young age,” he summed up.