🚨Nico Paz on what Lionel Messi told him after scoring from his assist against Benin:
🗣️ Nico Paz: “When Leo got the ball, I started making the run. Honestly, I thought maybe he was going to find Lautaro, because that’s the kind of position where you expect him to look for the striker.
But then I saw him look up and the ball came straight to me.
In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything except one thing: make it count.
I took the ball and put it in the net.
When I saw it go in, I immediately turned around and ran towards Leo. I just wanted to hug him because the feeling of scoring from a pass like that is difficult to explain.
But when I reached him, he said something that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my career.
He looked at me and said, ‘Nico, one day this is going to be you.’
I asked, ‘What do you mean?’
He said, ‘One day you’ll be the one giving these assists to another kid. When that moment comes, don’t be afraid of the responsibility. Take it. Fight for Argentina and help the next generation.’
I told him, ‘Leo, but I can never do what you do.’
He looked at me and said, ‘You don’t need to do what I do.’
Then he said, ‘You just need to do what you can do. That’s all Argentina wants from you.’
That really stayed with me.
Because when someone like Messi tells you that, you listen.
He wasn’t telling me to become the next Lionel Messi. He was telling me to become the best Nico Paz I can be.
And maybe that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from him.
You don’t honour someone like Leo by trying to copy him.
You honour him by taking the opportunity he gives you, accepting the responsibility and then creating your own story.
Today, he gave me an assist.
One day, I hope I can give an assist to another young player and tell him exactly what Leo told me.”