Asking for the match-worn shirt of a fellow professional is the ultimate sign of respect between two footballers.
Most of the time it is an average player attempting to track down the best opposition footballer on the pitch and asking the killer question.
But every now and again a world-class player gets starstruck at their place of work and just cannot resist asking to swap shirts.
Lionel Messi is widely regarded to be a quiet and unassuming character who goes about his business on the pitch with lethal efficinecy.
Of course, there are times he has swapped shirts with other professionals, but it’s almost always because he has been asked to do so.
Well, normally there isn’t anyone at his level on the pitch worth asking to swap with, is there? No… apart from once.
Discussing the topic with Spanish publication Invictos, Messi admitted that once in his career, presumably back in 2005, he asked a player to swap shirts.
And interestingly the footballer played for Barcelona’s bitter rivals, Real Madrid.
“I don’t ask for shirts. If there is an Argentine, I will swap with an Argentine,” explained the 29-year-old.
“If not and there is someone else that asks me, I will swap it with them. If not, I do not look and do not ask. I asked, once…I asked [Zinedine] Zidane.”
Well, we can’t say we blame him given just how good the now Los Blancos manager was when he played the game.
Lionel Messi names the only player he has asked to swap shirts with
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Peter Ebuka
