When Lionel Messi arrived in China recently, thousands of fans gathered to get a glimpse of the Argentine icon. Messi left the Chinese fans spellbound with his dazzling display against Australia in the friendly clash in Beijing. The Workers Stadium in Beijing was swarmed with an ocean of Argentina supporters cheering for the World Cup 2022 winners. However, amidst the horde of fans, one particular fan managed to catch Messi’s attention.
Last night, in China.
A Messi fan successfully broke through the defense line.
He is so young that he runs fast enough. Finally, he returned to the stage to continue watching the game. pic.twitter.com/obgmWpfnGL— Sharing Travel (@TripInChina) June 16, 2023
We often see fans resorting to unique techniques to grab the attention of the 7x Ballon d’Or winner. Some fans even manage to rush onto the pitch while Messi’s playing to hug the Argentine star. Others even resort to getting Messi’s face tattooed on their body. However, one fan in China came up with the idea of greeting Messi with a poster with the face of Messi’s son.
Lionel Messi was seen sitting in the team bus looking at the crowd gathered to greet him. However, one particular fan caught the former PSG star’s attention which made Messi burst into a guffaw. The fan was seen holding a poster with the face of Mateo Messi, Messi’s second child. The poster also contained a message in Spanish that said, “Daddy, Look at me.“
Lionel Messi’s reaction after seeing a fan in China hold up a photo of his son saying ‘Daddy, look at me!’ 😂❤️ pic.twitter.com/jmVI86V4Ba
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) June 16, 2023
Lionel Messi, who was sitting behind Argentine left-back Marcos Acuna, couldn’t hold his laughter upon seeing the poster. Messi’s comical reaction has gone viral on the Internet with many users appreciating the fan’s effort to get hold of the Argentine skipper’s attention.
Lionel Messi was temporarily detained by Chinese authorities at the airport
Lionel Messi’s highly anticipated arrival in China got off to a bad start after he was briefly detained at the airport by the authorities. As per the reports, Messi was stuck for two hours at the airport for an issue with his passport. A viral picture of Messi and Rodrigo De Paul surrounded by the Chinese police authorities went viral on the Internet.
While Lionel Messi is used to traveling to different countries, he had an uncharacteristic mix-up with his passport. The former Barcelona star had mistakenly used his Spanish passport instead of his Argentine one. Messi, who had previously traveled to Taiwan with his Spanish passport, believed that he could also go to China with it. However, he could only use his Argentine passport, which he didn’t have on him at that moment.
Messi also reportedly asked the authorities, “Is Taiwan, not China?” Fortunately, the confusion was cleared after two hours and Messi was finally granted a VISA. Although this wasn’t Messi’s first trip to China. He had previously visited the country on six different occasions. He won the Olympic Gold Medal back in 2008 in Beijing and was also here in 2017 for some works related to his theme park in China.