Over the years, a handful of young footballing prodigies have earned the “new Lionel Messi” tag as part of the soccer world’s as-yet fruitless search for an heir apparent to the Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina star.
Indeed, very few of these supposed successors have even come close to living up to the grandiose and unreasonable expectations thrust upon them. The likes of Bojan Krkic, Mauro Zarate and Alen Halilovic have all struggled with the weighty mantle, and not many have truly flourished in their own careers as a result.
However, one player is coming closer than any other to following in the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s footsteps at Newell’s Old Boys, the Argentine club where Messi began his playing career.
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The Rosario-based club have found themselves a brand new Messi, in a very literal sense, after Joaquin Messi made his debut for their Under-20 side this week.
Joaquin, who is no relation to Lionel, was named on the bench for Newell’s Juveniles’ in their Under-20 Copa Libertadores clash against Guarani and was even assigned the squad number made iconic by his namesake.
¡Así va #Newells! 🔴⚫
📋 Rubén Rodríguez dispone del siguiente 1️⃣1️⃣ titular para enfrentar a @canteraurinegra en el debut leproso por la @LibertadoresU20.
EN VIVO 💻 https://t.co/oNaMpyYTHw #VamosLosPibes #LibertadoresSub20 pic.twitter.com/PzXAYUxojN
— Newell’s Juveniles (@NewellsJuvenil) February 7, 2022
The 19-year-old, who was born in a village near Rosario and has been with the club since he was eight years old, came on as a substitute in the second half but was unable to prevent his side slipping to a narrow 1-0 defeat.
“I’m Joaquin Messi, a Newell’s player and I’m playing with the No. 10 jersey,” he said while introducing himself in a prematch…
Source : espn
