Lionel Messi and Argentina are causing a stir in the United States. Lionel Scaloni’s side defeated Honduras 3-0 in a friendly and will play Jamaica in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Like is the case everywhere in the world, Lionel Messi is the center of attention, even to professional and aspiring pro soccer players. Argentina was training at Inter Miami’s training facility and the PSG superstar took time to greet Inter Miami’s youth side.
One of the players is Francisco Ranieri, an Argentine youth who is playing as goalkeeper for Inter Miami. Ranieri asked Messi for an autograph on his arm and shortly got it tattooed.
Who is Francisco Ranieri?
Francisco Ranieri is from Argentina and was a part of the Lanus youth system before moving to the United States. Ranieri hopes to be playing in the first team shortly, with Lionel Messi’s name forever tattooed on his arm.
Messi not only signed autograph, the all-time leading scorer for Argentina also posed for individual pictures with many of the Inter Miami youth players. Argentina later traveled to New Jersey for their game against Jamaica and were met with equal amount of fanfare.