Pope Francis receives signed Lionel Messi shirt delivered by France Prime Minister
Lionel Messi has signed and sent one of his Paris St-Germain shirts to Pope Francis, with French Prime Minister Jean Castex handing it to the Holy Father when visiting the Vatican
Posted Tuesday, October 19, 2021 by Dailystar.co.uk
Lionel Messi has sent one of his signed Paris St-Germain shirts to Pope Francis via the Prime Minister of France.
Francis, 84, is said to be a big football fan and supported Argentinian club San Lorenzo as a child.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex met up with the Holy Father over the weekend, visiting the Vatican to commemorate 100 years of diplomatic relations between France and the Holy See.
And he came bearing a very special gift from Messi.
Castex arrived with one of his compatriot's PSG shirts signed by the man himself, much to the delight of the Pope.
Lionel Messi has sent one of his signed Paris St-Germain shirts to Pope Francis via the Prime Minister of France
Messi moved to the French club back in the summer after waving an emotional goodbye to Barcelona upon the expiry of his contract.
It was there where he cemented a legacy as one of the greatest players in football history, scoring 672 goals in 778 games.
The Pope certainly rates him highly, saying back in 2016: "For me, Messi is better than Maradona and Pele."
However, when asked if Messi was divine in his own right, Francis said: "Of course, he is very good, but he isn't God."
The Holy Father has also met Messi on two occasions in the past.
Messi broke yet another footballing record while away on international duty with Argentina last week.
The 34-year-old got on the scoresheet in his country's 3-0 win over Uruguay after his attempted pass snuck past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
By breaking the deadlock, he became the first South American player in history to register 80 international goals.
The pair have met on a few occasions in the past
"We played a great game. Everything worked out perfectly," he said after writing Argentinian history.
"Uruguay wait for you and they generate danger. Once we got the first goal we started to find space and the goals appeared."
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