Lionel Messi, widely considered the world’s greatest soccer player at the time, arrived in Colombia on Friday to play an all-star match in Medellin on Saturday.
“Greetings,” was the only thing Messi told reporters before being rushed to the van that would take him and part of his entourage to the Intercontinental hotel in Colombia’s second largest city.
The Argentine star arrived visibly exhausted when arriving at Medellin’s international airport at 4:12AM local time.
Messi will have to recover from his jetlag quickly as he is expected to play a so-called “Battle of the Stars” match on Saturday.
The highly anticipated performance of the world’s greatest soccer player will be witnessed by tens of thousands of Colombians in Medellin’s Antanasio Girardot stadium at 7PM.