Sunday's FIFA World Cup final had gazillions of people all over the world feeling the excitement of soccer's most important tournament, including the legendary internet chef known as Salt Bae.
Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gokce, quickly joined celebrations at the end of Sunday's game, and a lot of people are not happy about it.
In the moments after Argentina won the tie-breaking penalty kick shootout to take the World Cup title, Salt Bae for some reason was on the soccer pitch determined to share in legendary player Lionel Messi's big moment.
And nobody seemed less interested than Messi himself—so much so that Salt Bae was seen manhandling Messi to get a photo with him, as seen below.
The moment hasn't sat well with fans, especially given how momentous the occasion was.
Argentina's big win on Sunday, the country's first since 1986, was also Messi's first World Cup win--and at 35 years old with his days as a professional soccer player numbered, it may well be his only World Cup victory.
If the words, "this isn't about you, Salt Bae," are running through your head--well, you're not alone. His boorish attempt at a photo with Messi won him few fans on social media.
But in the end he did get that photo--and Messi seemed irritated at best.
Salt Bae also proudly posted a photo of him holding the World Cup itself to his Instagram feed--despite the fact it is fully against FIFA rules.
FIFA is explicit about who is allowed to handle the sacred World Cup itself, and it comprises two very elite groups of people:
"The original FIFA World Cup Trophy can only be touched and held by a very select group of people, which includes former winners of the FIFA World Cup and heads of state."
Salt Bae does not hold any World Cup titles, and "viral internet chef" doesn't exactly qualify as a head of state, does it?
Gokce was also seen biting into one of Argentina's medals to prove it was real gold.
All this spotlight hogging has definitely not endeared Salt Bae to people on the internet, while Messi's lack of interest in the chef has made him even more of a hero.
Salt Bae rose to prominence in 2017 with a string of viral videos in which he applied salt to meat with a flamboyant panache.
He has since ridden that viral fame to become the owner of a series of extremely poorly reviewed restaurants all of the world, the London location of which has been ranked one of the worst places to eat in the entire city.
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