West Ham United striker Michail Antonio has revealed how he almost got Lionel Messi’s match-worn shirt after playing against him earlier this season.
Antonio, a Jamaican-international striker, played for his country during a friendly match against Argentina in September, where the South American side would win 3-0 less than three months before being crowned World Cup champions in Qatar.
The West Ham forward played the majority of that match against Argentina, starting and playing 87 minutes before being replaced by Jamal Lowe, who recently joined Queens Park Rangers on loan from Bournemouth.
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In the game, Paris Saint-Germain forward and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi was part of the Argentina side, scoring his first goal a minute before Antonio was replaced and his second two minutes after he came off.
Keen to get the shirt of Argentina’s star man to add to his collection afterwards, Antonio asked Aston Villa goalkeeper and his former Sheffield Wednesday teammate Emiliano Martinez whether he could help him. However, despite Antonio's request, Martinez gave the shirt to Villa teammate and fellow Jamaican forward Leon Bailey.
“Do you know why? Because Martinez is a snake, man! He’s a big boy. I can’t believe it,” Antonio told the Footballers’ Football Podcast.
“I knew Emi Martinez before Leon Bailey. Bailey is just a teammate. I played with this guy 10 years ago, not at one club, at two!
“I was like ‘help me out here, get me Messi’s shirt’. He was like ‘I’ll see what I can do’. Ten minutes later Messi’s shirt comes in and I’m thinking ‘for me, yeah!’. But he handed it to Leon Bailey!”
Despite Antonio saying he played with Martinez at two clubs, they only actually played for the Owls together. Both men however did have spells with Reading, but Antonio left the club in 2012, seven years before Martinez arrived there on loan in 2019.
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