‘He gave a thumbs-up on my shout-out’: Kerala man who shot video of Messi nonetheless in disbelief

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: August 10 turned out to be the luckiest day within the lifetime of Thrissur native Anas P A. It was the day he met the legendary soccer sensation, Lionel Messi, whom he had longed to see in his complete lifetime. 

The hardcore Messi fan who’s on a trip journey to Europe is now the discuss of the city. Anas’ video went viral for his shout-out at Messi who was staying subsequent to his lodge suite room in Paris.

Coincidentally, Anas and pals had booked a room in the identical lodge the place Messi was additionally halting as a part of his contract signing with the brand new membership Paris-Saint Germain (PSG). 

Little did Anas, who’s working in a non-public firm in Qatar, knew whereas watching the Copa America ultimate on July 10 together with his household at his home in Thalikulam that he would meet the person who lifted the Copa America cup precisely a month later. Anas describes the expertise as a miracle. 

“Two days ago, we heard that the Argentina superstar will be staying at the same hotel. Being one of the popular seven-star hotels in Paris, it was obvious. We were informed that he would check in at 4.30pm that day, so I along with my friend and Malappuram native Sameer and our Iranian friend waited at the hotel entrance to get a glimpse of him. He was late and reached around 8pm. That said, the day is longer here. The sun sets only after 9pm. So it was still daylight at 8pm when Messi reached,” Anas informed TNIE over cellphone from Paris. 

“It was very crowded. We were not able to see him clearly and went back to our suite room in the hotel. Later, I heard loud cheers for Messi and thought the footballer was going somewhere and the crowd was cheering him. But I did not see him down when I looked from the balcony of my room which was on the fifth floor. I couldn’t believe my eyes that Messi and family were standing in the balcony of their suite room which was next to ours,” Anas mentioned.

It was Anas’ loud calls ‘Messi, Messi’ that prompted the famous person to show to him and smile.

“It was Tiago who first noticed me and later Messi turned towards me and gave a thumbs-up on my shout-out. Messi will be staying at the hotel for a few more days and Anas has already set his plans to meet his icon in the coming days.”