Lille midfielder Angel Gomes was given a delightful surprise at the end of his side’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.
Despite the Ligue 1 champions being thumped 5-1 by the current leaders, the 21-year-old was shocked to find Argentina legend Lionel Messi asking to swap shirts with him.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner had been one of the stars of the game, finding the scoresheet himself with a delightful chip after setting up Presnel Kimpembe’s earlier goal.
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While the Lille and PSG players were walking back to their dressing rooms, Messi stopped Gomes and asked him to swap shirts. The moment in the tunnel was captured and disseminated by PSG’s social team after the match.
π₯π [ππ‘π¦πππ]
Behind the scenes of the great victory π Lille (1-5) π#ππ’π¦ππ£π¦π pic.twitter.com/ULZAYSQP9r
β Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 7, 2022
The former Manchester United youth player shook hands with the icon and they hugged before going their separate ways.
Lille did not fare well in the match, but the side showed significant life in the first half, only trailing at the break thanks to a pair of goalkeeping howlers. Gomes began the match on the bench, but came on for a 20-minute cameo and played quite well. He completed all 13 of his attempted passes, including a pair of long balls, and lost possession just once in his 15 touches.
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Messi, recognizing Gomes’ talent and possible future, identified the England youth international as a target for his next shirt swap.
The Argentine superstar has a massive collection of shirts he has swapped for, displaying on his social media back in 2017 the entire room he has dedicated to just swapped shirts.
The collection has surely grown since that post nearly five years ago, and Gomes is the latest to be added to the bunch.