‘Was looking at him like ‘that’s Messi!”: Poland defender reveals how he got ARG great’s shirt after World Cup game

Lionel Messi’s status as an iconic figure in football is such that even opposition players in the World Cup who don’t get the chance to face him in club football often tend to be as thrilled to get his shirt or get a selfie with him as a fan would be. An example of that could be seen in an incident recited by Poland full back Matty Cash after their match against Argentina.

Poland lost the match 2-0 but still managed to go through, pipping Mexico on goal difference. Cash, who plays for Aston Villa in the English Premier League, had said that he had told his club teammate and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to get him Messi’s shirt before the start of the tournament whenever Poland play Argentina but didn’t really have high hopes.

However, Martinez did manage to deliver. “The best thing about it was, at the end of the game, Emi Martinez comes up to me and he says ‘Cashy, I’ve got you a present,'” Cash told talkSPORT. “I was like ‘oh, what could this be?’ So he’s gone ‘follow me’, so I’ve gone in the tunnel with him and he’s gone in the changing room. He’s gone ‘wait there’ and he’s walked out with a Messi shirt for me.”

Cash said that he couldn’t believe that he was seeing Messi up close at half time. “It’s amazing, it doesn’t get any better than that. But seeing him in real life up close – I think he walked past me at half time and I was looking at him like ‘that’s Messi!'”

Messi won’t be the only superstar Paris St Germain forward that Cash and Poland will be facing. Poland’s round of 16 opponents will be defending champions France and Cash will be facing off with Kylian Mbappe. Cash could have a more direct conflict with Mbappe than he did with Messi as the French forward plays from the wide positions more than the Argentina captain.

“It’s obviously surreal [getting through], it’s an amazing moment for everyone to make history really. It’s been 30-odd years since the last qualification at a World Cup for the country so, it was an amazing day for everyone yesterday and I’m really looking forward to facing Mbappe!” he said.