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Lionel Messi Lookalike Spotted Watching The Man Himself At Camp Nou

Lionel Messi Lookalike Spotted Watching The Man Himself At Camp Nou

Madness...

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

Over the past 12 months or so, we've stumbled across a fair few lookalikes that have tried to gain public attention.

Jamie Vardy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba to name just a few, but what about five time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi?

Iranian football fan Reza Parastesh has come into prominence in recent weeks, thanks to his uncanny resemblance to the five time Ballon d'Or winner, and Messi's doppelganger was spotted at the Camp Nou on Saturday evening.

Barcelona came up against Malaga in the league and managed to secure a 2-0 victory, as Reza Parastesh looked on with a smile on his face.

Messi
Messi

Messi
Messi

Image: Twitter

Parastesh was pressured to don the number 10 Barcelona jersey after his dad thought he looked like the football superstar. He chucked on the jersey and sent a few pictures to a sports website.

The 25-year-old was shocked when they immediately replied asking him to come in for an interview.

That's when everything changed for the student.

He's since cut his hair like Messi and is studying his mannerisms to make him seem like the real deal. Reza often will wear the Barcelona or Argentina jersey when he goes out and constantly gets stopped for selfies.

Messi
Messi

He says being Messi's doppelganger is seriously paying off. He's landed modelling contracts and continually gets booked for interviews.

Reza told The Daily Mail: "Now people really see me as the Iranian Messi and want me to mimic everything he does. When I show up somewhere, people are really shocked,

"I'm really happy that seeing me makes them happy and this happiness gives me a lot of energy."

But it hasn't been all smooth sailing for Reza. Despite his dad pressuring him into becoming Messi's lookalike - things turned sour during the FIFA World Cup in 2014.

Messi scored a goal for Argentina in the 91st minute against Iran, knocking the Middle Eastern country out of the last 16. Reza's dad called him and told him not to come home that night.

He also nearly wound up in jail for disturbing the peace. Apparently, he drew massive crowds when walking through the Iranian city of Hamedan and police were called in to rush him to a nearby station. They also impounded his car to help clear traffic.

The life of a Messi lookalike sounds interesting, to say the least.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Camp Nou