Well that’s exactly what happened recently to Mackenzie O’Neill, an 11-year-old from Southeast England.
What followed was 40 minutes of play, in which O’Neill got to square off against one of his idols.
Messi, 32, plays as a forward and captains both Barcelona and the Argentina national team.
“I wasn’t nervous!” O’Neill told CNN. “I was a bit shy at first but then just did what I love doing best. It was incredible to see him move. He wasn’t bothered about actually playing, but the best part was I almost nutmegged him!”
Later, the two posed for a smiling photo together, which O’Neill proudly posted to his Instagram page on July 14. “Today a dream came true,” O’Neill captioned the shot.
O’Neill then followed up that post with video of the two playing together with Messi’s 7-year-old son Thiago (the athlete is also father to Mateo, 4, and Ciro, 1).
They trio played together over the next few days as their vacations continued, CNN reported.
“I realized that Messi really enjoyed seeing his son play with other children,” O’Neill toldArgentine sports newspaperOle, according to theEvening Standard —adding that Messi “acted like a normal dad.”
At the end of Messi’s stay, O’Neill attempted to gift Thiago with a soccer ball to keep, O’Neill toldOle, “but [Thiago] ran after me along the beach and insisted I keep it.”
source: people.com
