Lionel Messi finally won the World Cup with Argentina last year, and he sent Rafael Nadal a special shirt to commemorate the campaign.
Rafael Nadal got to watch Spain win the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa over a decade ago, which is one of his fondest memories. He’s a huge football fan and actually played the sport as a kid, eventually opting for tennis instead.
There is a lot of football history in the Nadal extended family, as several members were players, and plenty are adamant that Nadal could have been a great player had he stuck with the sport.
He probably doesn’t regret his decision to remain in tennis, but football has always been, and always will be, a huge part of his life.
The same can be said for Lionel Messi, whom many consider the best of all time and the Argentine cemented his legacy last year by leading Argentina to the FIFA World Cup crown in Qatar.
One of the kits he used during that campaign was sent to Rafael Nadal as Messi signed the shirt and left a message for the Spanish tennis legend.
‘For Rafa, with much affection and admiration.’
The kit was already displayed in the Rafael Nadal Museum as part of his Academy complex in Mallorca. The museum has become quite a tourist attraction, getting visited by sporting icons such as Tiger Woods, who is a big fan of Nadal.
It hosts Nadal’s trophies and other sports memorabilia documenting a legendary career that is still going on. Now it’s richer by Messi’s kit, a gift to Nadal, showing their mutual admiration and respect.
Check out what it looks like in the social media post below. You can see the message Messi left for Nadal as well as the displayed kit in the museum.
=https://twitter.com/rnadalacademy/status/1736738100095697077″ data-service=”twitter”>
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