A young fan wearing a Barcelona shirt ran onto the pitch near the end of the match, but was stopped by Messi’s personal bodyguard Yassine Chueko before the boy could approach his idol. At the young fan’s insistence, Messi who was nearby came over to shake his hand and asked his bodyguard to let him take a photo, as well as asking Yassine Chueko to take another photo.
Messi’s action received warm applause from more than 30,000 spectators at Toronto FC’s BMO Field in Canada. After the young fan contented himself with shaking hands and taking photos with his idol, Messi’s personal bodyguard and a security officer carried him off the field in extreme joy. The boy was then taken into the stands with his family.
After this incident, there were many other cases of fans deliberately entering the pitch to meet Messi. However, these fans failed to achieve their intention, as Yassine Chueko and the stadium security staff were on high alert to prevent it from afar. Messi cannot please all fans either, especially when the incident constantly disrupts the match.
“Messi had a wonderful gesture with a child who wanted to hug him but was stopped by security staff. While other fans were clearly harassing the game,” wrote one user on the social network Sociedad X. “It is not the first time that Messi pleases a fan who ran onto the field and asked his bodyguard to allow him to take photos. But they are little fans, other fans can be stopped,” added another person.
Messi, after two successful away games with Inter Miami Club, including a 3-2 win over Columbus Crew and a 1-0 win over Toronto FC, won the Supporters’ Shield championship and is still far from the record. Only 1 more victory in MLS history.
He and his teammates quickly returned to Miami to rest with their families before joining Argentina’s national team here to prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches in South America against Venezuela and Bolivia on October 11 and 16, respectively.
Messi’s wife Antonela posted the last photos of the Argentine player on October 7, when she went to the stadium to watch her eldest son Thiago play with the Inter Miami Academy U.13 team in the new season.
Messi’s three sons, including Thiago, Mateo and Ciro, currently play for Inter Miami Academy teams. In addition to Thiago in the U.13, Mateo joined the U.10, and the youngest Ciro was in the U.6.
