The privacy of the Argentina national team during the World Cup continues to yield scenes that quickly go viral. This time, the protagonist was Cristian Romero, better known as Cuti, whose suitcase aroused security officers’ curiosity during an airport check.
As the luggage passed through the scanner, an object caught the attention of the airport staff, who decided to open the suitcase for inspection. The moment sparked the players’ curiosity and ended up provoking laughter from Lionel Messi and the rest of the squad as everyone was checked by security personnel.
The surprise was discovering a kitchen lighter, an item rather unusual in a professional footballer’s luggage.
The explanation behind the curious object
Hours later, the real reason Romero carried the lighter during the trip was revealed.
The defender uses it to light palo santo and fumigate the rooms where the Argentina team stays, as part of one of the rituals that has accompanied the squad since the World Cup in Qatar.
Romero, together with Lisandro Martínez and Nahuel Molina, forms the group informally known as “the palo santo gang”, which tends to carry out this ritual before matches to, according to them, ward off bad energies.
The habit began during the World Cup in Qatar, when Lisandro Martínez started using palo santo at the training camp. Over time, Romero and Molina adopted the ritual and turned it into a group tradition.
Why it was detained
Although the episode ended with smiles, the lighter could not continue the journey with the defender.
Being a flammable item, airport security rules prohibit carrying it in carry-on luggage, so it was detained at the checkpoint.
The moment was captured by cameras and quickly went viral on social media, where many highlighted the Argentina team’s more relaxed and intimate side amid the World Cup campaign.
