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The legend of Messi grows and grows. His latest straight-out-of-a-hollywood-script moment comes from the FIFA Club World Cup final that took place on December 20, 2015. It may have happened three months ago, but River Plate keeper Marcelo Barovero has apparently only just shared the story yesterday to Sport ENGLISH. Barovero’s son received a gift from Messi after the final.
During the opening moments of the game, Messi was fed a ball inside the area by Andres iniesta, and with his normal superhuman touch and quickness he fired a dangerous shot at Barovero’s goal. Barovero made the save, and in doing so made the dream of his son come true as well: his son had dreamed of his dad saving a shot from Messi.
After the save Messi approached Barovero. "He came close to me and helped me up and stroked my head," Barovero said. "And I told him I had just completed the dream of my son, to stop a shot from Messi."
You can see the save and head stroke here, at the beginning of this video:
Apparently Messi took kindly to Barovero’s candidness. While Bravero couldn’t get Messi’s shirt (he had to “settle” for Claudio Bravo’s), he did get Messi’s boots.
“He told me, 'the boots are for your son'. I froze. It was a very big gesture."
I can just imagine it now. Messi, strolling through the locker room, quietly interacting with players from both teams in his own way. Then, like a scene from one of those cheesy GI Joe commercials, he looks over his shoulder at Barovero, winks, and delivers the line: “the boots are for your son.”
And then he walks away. We don’t know where he’s going, but he’s going to do good wherever he ends up.
I hope that’s how Barovero’s son received a gift from Messi.
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