Fans running on to the field to touch Lionel Messi: There’s no question Messi is the best footballer in the world, and perhaps the best footballer of all time, if he’s able to win the World Cup for Argentina. But Messi’s become much more than that for many football (soccer) fans. He’s become someone who fans nearly bow down to if they can reach him on the soccer field. Yes, he’s become God like. One might say Buddha like. Fans from all over the world simply adore Messi and are willing to get arrested just to touch him, hug him or kiss him.
The latest fan running on the field event happened just yesterdays. As Messi and Argentina faced off against Jamaica in New Jersey in preparation for the World Cup in Qatar. The fan ran on the field and tried to get Messi to sign his back. Messi proceeded to sign his shirtless back only for security to pull the fan away.
Messi signed a fan’s back after he scored a goal ✍️ pic.twitter.com/zxzHtlxeSD
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 28, 2022
Imagine the desire to touch Messi when his football career is winding down and he’s going to retire. Fans rushing the field to touch him will exponentially increase. They’ll have to have more security reinforcements when he plays.
Here, a fan runs on the soccer field as Lionel Messi and 10-man PSG are on the counter-attack. It took a while for security to stop the fan from getting to Messi and it seems like everyone was just confused.
A pitch invader got in Messi’s way while he was on the attack for PSG with the score at 0-0 😬 pic.twitter.com/9iJu3QwDiJ
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 25, 2021
Can you really fault the fans running on the field to touch Messi, though. I mean, I get the passion and desire to touch the greatest footballer of time. Even some players he plays with tried to take his shoes and jersey before the game is even over.
Messi is unique, not just in what he’s able to do on the soccer field and how he dribbles the ball, but in the way he handles the fans who rush on the field. He doesn’t run away or get scared, at least outwardly, although maybe he should run away in some cases. Instead though, Messi just lets the fans say or do what they want to do and then lets security take over.
The number of fans who’ve rushed the field to get to Messi seems to keep rising. Every few months we see video of a fan in some part of the world, often a Barcelona fan, make that risky leap out of their seat, past the guards, and on to the field to touch their idol.
Fan #1 running on to the field to touch Messi: While playing for Argentina, against Sweden, fan runs on field to hug and kiss Messi. And also rub his head and make a mess of his hair.
Fan #2 running on to the field to touch Messi: When playing for Barcelona, fan rushes field to hug Messi.
Fan #3 running on to the field to touch Messi: While playing for Argentina, fan runs on the field to shake Messi’s hand during a game versus Germany:
Fan #4 running on to the field to touch Messi: Again while playing for Argentina in a game versus Uruguay a fan runs on to the field to touch Messi. This time it’s a pretty young kid who makes a sprint towards Messi and almost looks like he’s going to tackle him but instead sort of kiss his feet. Messi handles it all so well, calm and cool. Not afraid.
You don’t see many soccer fans running on to the field to touch Cristiano Ronaldo’s hair gel during a Real Madrid game. Although I’m sure an army of teenage girls would happily run Ronaldo down if they got the chance.
But it’s like Messi is different than Ronaldo, maybe more humble and less flashy, and perhaps fans realize he’s unique in his ability, something that’s not going to come along again in the world of football. Yes, these fans are a bit crazy to run on to the field but after watching Messi play sometimes, and see what he does, can you blame them if they get overwhelmed.
Fan #5 running on to the field to touch Messi: Once again a fan ran on to the field to hug Messi, but this time the fan also kissed Messi’s shoes. And once again Messi was cool and calm and kind to the fan. This time it took place in the Champions League match versus Portuguese club Sporting. The Portuguese fans are chanting “Cristiano Ronaldo” at Messi as this happens in the first part of this video.
