Barcelona FANS needs to see Messi's Lookalike
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Reza Parastesh has become a sensation in Iran for his resemblance to Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi Iranian student Reza Parastesh looks so much like his sporting hero
Lionel Messi that it almost landed him in jail for disrupting public
order this week.
So many people came out to take selfies with Parastesh in the western
city of Hamedan over the weekend that police rushed him into a station
and impounded his car to stop the chaos and clear traffic.
The resemblance is so uncanny that Eurosport UK reportedly used his
photo by accident on Twitter recently when talking about the real Messi.
Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and
Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a
street in Tehran on May 8, 2017. The furore began a few months ago when Parastesh's football-mad
father pressured the 25-year-old into posing in a number 10 Barcelona
jersey and sending the pictures to a sports website.
"I sent them one night and by the morning they had called me and said I should come in quickly for an interview," he told AFP. Despite his early reluctance, Parastesh soon grew into his new role,
cutting his hair like Messi and often donning the Barca jersey when he
goes out. It has paid off -- he is fully booked with media interviews and has even landed modelling contracts.
"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," he said. Iranians are obsessed with football, and Parastesh finds himself constantly besieged by fans looking for a selfie.
Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and
Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi, poses for a picture with fans in a
street in Tehran on May 8, 2017.
"I'm really happy that seeing me makes them happy and this happiness gives me a lot of energy," he added.
Parastesh loves football but has never played professionally, though
he is working on some tricks so he can better play the role. He remembers very well the last game between Iran and Argentina
during World Cup 2014, when Messi's 91st-minute goal robbed the Islamic
republic of a place in the last 16.
Reza's dad was furious.
"After the game, my dad called me and said don't come back home
tonight... why did you score a goal against Iran? I said: But that
wasn't me!" Parastesh said, laughing. His goal now is to meet his hero in Barcelona, and maybe even land a job as his understudy.
This combination of pictures created on May 08,
2017 shows (L) Reza Parastesh, a doppelganger of Barcelona and
Argentina's footballer Lionel Messi (R)
"Being the best player in footballing history, he definitely has more
work than he can handle.
I could be his representative when he is too
busy," he said.
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