Tag: Lionel Messi

Argentine and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was recently re-baptized in Nigeria with a new name, following Barca's 3-0 defeat of Liverpool at Camp Nou in the first-leg of semifinal of the UEFA Champions League. The Barcelona forward scored two inspirational goals after Suarez' first-half goal put the Catalans ahead to give them a massive advantage ahead of the second-leg. However, a group a Igbo Barca fans somewhere in Surulere, Lagos in Nigeria felt the best thing to give the Argentine forward for his performance was a Nigerian name which suits his performance. Following the blast of the final whistle, there was massive jubilation among the Barca fans, and a formal rite of renaming the Barca star "OluChukwu Messi" was put in place. The Nigerian Barca-Fans acknowledged the fact that Lionel Messi was instinctive in the match, producing two goals that gave the Catalans giant a heavy advantage ahead of their second-leg encounter in England.

The name "OluChukwu" in Igbo language which means "Handwork of God" indicates that Messi was a tool used to deliver Barca from a Liverpool team that lost only one premier league match this season in England. Despite Liverpool's dreaded attack which yielded no result at Camp Nou, "OluChukwu Messi" set in to score a brace to perfect his side's win in the tie. Lionel Messi's spectacular free-kick in the 82nd minutes was Barca's third goal in the match, and his 600th goal for Barcelona. The win also ensured Barcelona became the second team after Real Madrid to score 500 goals in the UEFA Champions League. While Madrid are at 551 goals, Barcelona hit 502 goals. Liverpool are now faced with an uphill task of over-turning a 3-0 deficit at Anfield when Barca visit next week. A heavy-task which looks realizable but very difficult to accomplish.