Colin Sheridan: Argentina antics humanise Lionel Messi and co

Argentina's reaction was so compelling to me. Is pettiness not one of the most relatable human reactions? It stripped back every cent Messi has ever earned

CLASH: Argentina's Lionel Messi with Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal following the FIFA World Cup Quarter-Final at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

When Mayo’s Lee Keegan tossed his GPS unit at Dean Rock, just as the Dubliner was about to break Mayo hearts and kick his team to glory in that epic 2017 All-Ireland final, you can be fairly certain the Westport man wasn’t thinking about personal legacy. Had Rock missed (and Mayo somehow found the resolve to kick a winner), the flying GPS would've become a catalyst for conversation the country over. Snugs and marts, those never ending queues outside country funeral homes; all would’ve played host to any number of diverse opinions on the matter, from the disgusted to the impressed.

Keegan's act would’ve become as much a part of the story as Mayo ending their seemingly unendable famine. To the Dubs - and the many others from Mayo fatigue - Keegan would be understandably cast as a pariah for his petty act of gamesmanship. In Mayo, his reputation as an heroic warrior long established, they probably would have renamed the Holy Mountain after him. Throwing the GPS was the most definitive rebuke to the notion that Mayo were too soft, too popular, too unwilling to “do whatever it took” to win. It didn’t work, even so the Dubs were understandably enraged at Keegan’s “shithousery”. In his column for The Star, Charlie Redmond called it a “new low for Gaelic Football''.