One Lionel Messi, there’s only one … oh, wait
Iranian’s striking similarity to Barcelona star gives him new role but also causes uproar as fans crowd around him for selfies
TEHRAN // The thick brown hair, the auburn- tinged beard and those intense dark eyes.
Put him in a Barcelona shirt and it is all but impossible to tell Iranian student Reza Parastesh apart from global football superstar Lionel Messi.
Reza looks so similar to his sporting hero that he almost ended up in an Iranian prison for disrupting public order. So many people came out to take selfies with Reza 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.
The furore began a few months ago when Reza’s football-mad father put pressure on the 25- year- old to pose in a No 10 Barcelona shirt and send 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 said.
Despite his early reluctance, Reza 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 interviews and has 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 Reza finds himself constantly besieged by fans looking for a selfie.
“I’m really happy that seeing me makes them happy, and this happiness gives me a lot of energy,” he said.
Reza loves football but has never played professionally, although he is working on 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 Iran of a place in the last 16.
Reza’s father 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’,” Reza said, laughing.
His goal now is to meet his hero in Barcelona, and maybe even land a job as his understudy.
“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.”