He had already been applauded for a long time during Argentina’s victory against Venezuela (3-0) on Friday. Lionel Messi once again saw that his popularity extended far beyond football stadiums. On Saturday, the Paris Saint-Germain striker took advantage of an evening off to go to the theater. His presence in the stands of the El Nacional theater was revealed at the end of the performance by one of the actors, which drove the audience crazy, who chanted his name for a long time.
“We have known each other for a long time. He has a wonderful family. He’s a person everyone loves, introduced Adrian Suar, one of the stars of the evening play, “Inmaduros”, and friend of the footballer. He is a humble and wonderful man. Those who don’t know him love him. And those who know him know he’s even better than he looks on the pitch. Mr Lionel Messi! »
A salute for the crowd
At his words, the player got up to greet the audience, before going on stage to kiss the actors. The reaction of the room was not long in coming: immediately, she started singing in her name, applauding her for several minutes. Messi then took backstage photos with the cast, as his fans gathered outside the theater to await his exit.
This walkabout in his country will probably have boosted the morale of the Argentinian, currently heckled by the public of Paris Saint-Germain. Like many of his teammates, he was whistled by the public at the Parc des Princes during his last home game, in reaction to the club’s elimination in the Champions League round of 16 against Real Madrid.
His parenthesis in South America does him good. Holder with Argentina to face Venezuela on Friday, in a qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup without much stake, the Golden Ball scored and was widely applauded by the public after the victory (3-0). After the match, he especially received a visit from his idol Juan Roman Riquelme, who offered him a flocked jersey from Boca Juniors. Posted on social networks, a photo showing the latter taking the jersey out of plastic packaging to present it to Messi’s family quickly went viral, especially for Boca fans, who dream of seeing “La Pulga” end his career at La Bombonera. Currently, Riquelme indeed holds the position of vice-president of the club, which puts him in an ideal position to start negotiations.