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Football Photos

When Pope Francis met Lionel Messi

August 16, 2013 12:34

Pope Francis is an avid soccer fan. It was evident when he met Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team, which was scheduled to play Italy in an international friendly.

All images courtesy AFP.

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Pope Francis is an avid soccer fan. It was evident when he met Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team, which was scheduled to play Italy in an international friendly.

All images courtesy AFP.
Zoom

Pope Francis, the first pontiff from Latin America, is known to have started a collection of football jerseys since taking over residence at the Vatican.

While most of these were tossed to him by fans at his public appearances, he got two more - an Argentine and an Italian - when he met with the teams.
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Players of both Argentina and Italy were treated to a private audience at the Apostolic Palace.
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Lionel Messi (left) and Italy's Gianluigi Buffon during their interaction with the Pope.
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It is learnt that it was a very emotional moment for several players of both teams. None however revealed what they discussed with the Pope.

Argentina defeated Italy in the match that followed shortly after.

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