“If that happens my year and life is won” - Portuguese midfielder says only jersey he wants is from Lionel Messi; makes special plea to Di Maria

Portuguese midfielder Pedrinho has issued a special plea to Argentine stars Angel Di Maria and Nicolas Otamendi to help him get a Lionel Messi shirt. The midfielder will be part of the Pevidem side that will host Benfica in the Taca de Portugal on Saturday, October 19.

Cup competitions often throw up the most opportunistic ties, such as bringing fourth-tier Pevidem face to face with giants of Portuguese football like Benfica. In what is likely a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, semi-professional midfielder Pedrinho has voiced out a request before the game.

Speaking on the ZeroZero show, Pedrinho was asked which Benfica player's jersey he would love to get after the game, to which he responded with none. Instead, he asked that one of Angel Di Maria or Nicolas Otamendi get him a Lionel Messi shirt and that he wants a video call.

“The only jersey I want from Benfica is Messi’s. If Di María or Otamendi could make it happen… They can throw out the challenge that Tiago Vieira and me only want a video call with Messi, whether it’s before or after the game. If that happens my year and life is won," Pedrinho said (via All About Argentina).

Lionel Messi and Di Maria played together in the national team for the best part of 15 years, until the latter retired from international football in the summer. With Otamendi, on the other hand, the pair were still together as recently as last week with the national team, in their 6-0 thrashing of Bolivia in FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Messi has shown himself to be willing to these sorts of requests in the past, sending shirts to teammates of his Argentina teammates. Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison, for example, got a shirt from the 37-year-old via teammate Cristian Romero this week.

Pevidem will hope to pull off an improbable upset against Benfica in what is truly a David v Goliath meeting. What will truly make this meeting memorable for Pedrinho, however, is if he can get his hands on a Lionel Messi shirt and get him on a call.

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Former Manchester United star names Lionel Messi as genius of football

Former Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani has named Lionel Messi as one of football's geniuses in an interview. The former Uruguay international is on the books of Boca Juniors in Argentina after a fruitful career in Europe.

Cavani spoke with Sebastian Vignolo for ESPN, where he was asked if he considers himself a footballing genius. He responded in the negative, saying that the title was only for a select group of players.

"Do I consider myself a genius in football? No, honestly, the geniuses are: Messi, Maradona, Neymar and Ronaldinho. I'm just a hard worker in football who kept refining myself," Cavani said via All About Argentina.

Cavani played for several top sides in Europe and played alongside some of the finest players the world has seen. He has also played in the same teams as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, and Kylian Mbappe.