Lionel Mess's mother relates why she gave her son that name

Today, Lionel Mess is probably the world's most famous person, his name has become a brand, and since world champion came out a week ago, many parents decided to baptize their children named Rosario.

However, the captain of the National of Argentina had almost another name.

According to Celia, the footballer's mother, she wanted him to be called different and she was Jorge. It was the father who ended up putting Lionel in civilian condition.

We had no male name, I always liked Leonel”, the mother of the silver national star.

When Jorge went to write it, he put it on Lionel... when he almost got to kill him, Celia added.

Asked why her husband ended up choosing that name, instead of Leonel as agreed, the answer concerns the couple's fanaticism of a great artist.

We really liked Lionel Richie,” she agreed.

When this story became known, many journalists asked Lionel Richie himself what he thought his name inspired Lionel Mess's father when it came to his son's baptism.

I thought it was a joke”, he discovered, though he added: “and then I made an investigation and I saw it was his mother who said it. It was true. Let me tell you this: I understand that he can't sing and I want to announce that I can't play football”, broadcast Clankosova.tv.

But of course, in Argentina the name Leonel was so far much more popular than Lionel, so many people ended up saying Leo instead of Leo.

Something that even the player himself ended up accepting: my “Placa will kill me, but Leo is already here”