ARGENTINA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Lionel Messi paints with a soccer ball to raise money for UNICEF

Record ID: 446621

  • Title: ARGENTINA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Lionel Messi paints with a soccer ball to raise money for UNICEF
  • Date: 25th June 2011
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (JUNE 24, 2011) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) ARGENTINE SOCCER STARS CARLOS TEVEZ AND LIONEL MESSI SIGNING SOCCER BALL MESSI, TEVEZ AND SERGIO AGUERO BEING FILMED BY JOURNALISTS NEAR WHERE THEY WILL PAINT A PICTURE BY KICKING A SOCCER BALL INTO A PAINT CAN ARGENTINE SOCCER STARS MESSI, TEVEZ AND AGUERO MESSI KICKING BALL INTO CAN SPLATTERING PAINT ONTO CANVAS MESSI JOINING THE OTHER STARS AFTER "PAINTING" TEVEZ LINING UP TO KICK THE BALL AND PAINT CLOSE-UP OF TEVEZ KICKING THE BALL CLOSE-UP OF THE PAINTING AND SOCCER STARS STANDING BEHIND THEIR CREATION SOCCER STARS STANDING BEHIND THE PAINTING SOCCER STARS AT A NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINE SOCCER STAR, LIONEL MESSI, SAYING: "Yes, like Julian [hosting], for being small as a kid when I didn't grow, I sometimes didn't get picked either because I was small." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINE SOCCER STAR, CARLOS TEVEZ, SAYING: "Yes, I am in a trial with someone, but well, it has to do with defending my origins and that there are stupid people who don't realize this." THE STARS ON STAGE AS TEVEZ SIGNS THE BACKDROP CLOSE-UP OF TEVEZ SIGNING THE BACKDROP THE SOCCER STARS HOLDING PROMOTIONAL SIGNS IN THE SHAPE OF A THUMBS UP
  • Embargoed: 10th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA738UTR4CYRQ30TNIQSMERU104
  • Story Text: While at a UNICEF event to raise awareness on discrimination, Argentine soccer great Lionel Messi admitted he was sometimes not picked on the playground because he was too short.
    Believed by many to be the best soccer player in the world, Messi was joined by Argentina teammates Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero as they kick-painted a painting to raise money for the United Nations Children's Fund. In front of journalists, the players kicked a soccer ball into a tube of paint that then splattered a canvas.
    The unique painting will be auctioned to raise money for the fund.
    During part of the event, the host poked fun at himself for being short and asked the players if they had ever been discriminated against, prompting Messi to admit that he had been overlooked because of his stature.
    "Yes, like Julian [host], for being short as a kid when I didn't grow, I sometimes didn't get picked either because I was short," Messi said.
    The star known as the "pulga" or tick probably doesn't worry about being picked last these days.
    Tevez let out a chuckle and referenced a filing he made against an Argentine television show for making a parody of him in a sketch called "Ugly Carlos" which presented the Manchester City forward as "ignorant."
    "Yes, I am in a trial with someone, but well, it has to do with defending my origins and that there are stupid people who don't realize this," Tevez said.
    The event fell on Messi's 24th birthday.
    The soccer great is a goodwill ambassador to UNICEF
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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