‘Wouldn’t wash my hand!’ – Juventus starlet Matias Soule recalls meetings with Inter Miami icon Lionel Messi & humble Al-Nassr ‘genius’ Cristiano Ronaldo

The 20-year-old playmaker has been included in senior Argentina international squads in the past, allowing him to rub shoulders with eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi. He admits to behaving like a starry-eyed fan during those encounters, with a boyhood dream coming true.

Soule has told ESPN of meeting Messi, who is now playing his club football for Inter Miami in MLS: “I arrived later and when I entered the rooms he came out just to say hello. I said I wouldn’t wash my hand anymore.. I didn’t talk much, but you can see that he’s a good guy.”

As someone that has been on the books at Juve since 2020, Soule has also shared a training pitch with Portuguese icon Ronaldo. He said of being pleasantly surprised at how humble the legendary goalscorer is: “I was surprised by how good a person he was. I didn’t know him, but I heard what was said about him. He is a genius. I remember that one day we went to eat and he sat next to me, I hadn’t spoken to him at all. They all left and he continued telling me things, about the cars he had, what Madrid was like…”

Ronaldo left Juve for a second spell at Manchester United in 2021 and is now plying his trade in the Saudi Pro League with Al-Nassr. Soule, meanwhile, is enjoying a loan spell at Frosinone in 2023-24 – reaching double figures for goals scored – and is hoping to follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps at Real Madrid at some point in the future.