Football News: Inter Miami goalkeeper gets Lionel Messi's autograph tattooed on his arm

Football News: Inter Miami goalkeeper gets Lionel Messi's autograph tattooed on his arm

Francisco Ranieri, the goalie for Inter Miami, had Lionel Messi's signature tattooed on his forearm after achieving a lifetime desire to see the Argentine superstar in person.

Recently, the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner visited the MLS club's training facility as he prepared for an international friendly match against Honduras at Hard Rock Stadium.

Both teams used Inter's training facility to prepare for the match, which Argentina won 3-0 with two goals from Messi.

In the days following the match, Messi met and trained with some of Inter's players, including his former international teammate Gonzalo Higuain, who currently plays for the MLS club.

Inter's Argentine goalkeeper Ranieri was among those to meet Messi. He asked the Paris Saint-Germain player to sign his arm since he was awestruck upon meeting such a legendary compatriot.

Messi graciously accepted, and Ranieri wasted no time making it permanent, having the signature tattooed the next day.

As Ranieri described rubbing shoulders with Messi, who was previously on Lanus' books, he wrote, "The best day ever. I fulfilled a dream yesterday. Shared the pitch with the players I admire, with my national team."

Francisco is not alone in his admiration of Messi and investment in a lifelong, permanent symbol of that adoration. The others have also gone to extraordinary lengths to acquire Messi's autograph tattooed on their body.

More fans who got Lionel Messi to tattoo on their bodies

Cristian Solera flew from his birthplace of San Juan, Argentina, to London to pursue Messi's signature for his leg tattoo.

After waiting outside the hotel where the team was staying and nearly being ejected, he met one of the coaches who assisted him in achieving his dream.

Igor Magalhaes, a Brazilian, has covered his entire back with a three-session-long work of wearable art depicting the superstar's legendary goal celebration.

Messi's legendary celebration after scoring a late victory for Barcelona against Real Madrid, while holding up his No. 10 shirt to the Bernabeu crowd, is depicted on the tattoo.

There are numerous Messi tattooed admirers, but after winning Copa America in 2021 against Brazil, there was a natural increase in the number of Messi tattoos with imagery from the final.

A lucky fan carrying an image of Messi holding and kissing the Copa America trophy on his back was able to meet the maestro, who signed the fan's artwork.

Tuesday, Argentina will play Jamaica in a friendly match at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.

It is their penultimate match before the World Cup in Qatar, with another friendly against the United Arab Emirates on November 16 as their final warm-up game before the tournament begins on November 20.

Argentina is one of the favourites to win the Qatar winter tournament. They play Saudi Arabia on November 22, followed by Mexico (November 26) and Poland (November 30).

The all-time great is eagerly anticipating another shot at World Cup triumph with Argentina. At the same time, Ranieri hopes to attract the attention of Inter Miami, a club co-owned by Manchester United and England veteran David Beckham.